Revision: Feb. 15, 2024, 9:25 a.m.
HB 318-FN-A - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
3Jan2024... 2460h
2023 SESSION
23-0431
04/10
HOUSE BILL 318-FN-A
AN ACT relative to bail commissioners and making appropriations to the judicial branch.
SPONSORS: Rep. Lynn, Rock. 17; Rep. Alexander Jr., Hills. 29
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Amends the bail commissioner's fee to $50.
II. Makes various changes relative to the bailing of offenders by bail commissioners.
III. Allows the chief justice of the supreme court or designee to revoke the appointment of a bail commissioner for cause.
IV. Provides for new requirements for the issuance of identification cards to bail commissioners.
V. Provides new provisions regarding the training and duties of bail commissioners.
VI. Makes certain appropriations to the judicial branch.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
3Jan2024... 2460h 23-0431
04/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT relative to bail commissioners and making appropriations to the judicial branch.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Bail and Recognizances; Bail Commissioners; Fees. Amend RSA 597:20 to read as follows:
597:20 Fees. The bail commissioners in such cases shall be entitled to a fee of [$40] $50. However, clerks of court or members of their staffs who are bail commissioners shall be entitled to collect such fee only when called while not on active duty. In jurisdictions where the bail commissioner is a full-time salaried police officer, constable, sheriff, deputy sheriff, state police employee, or anyone else authorized to execute police powers, such person shall not receive the fee established in this section, but instead such amount shall be remitted to the town or city in which the district court is situated. If the defendant is indigent, the fee shall be waived.
2 Bail and Recognizances; General Provisions; Determination of Indigence and Payment of Bail Commissioner Fee. Amend RSA 597:2-b to read as follows:
597:2-b Determination of Indigence and Payment of Bail Commissioner Fee.
I. The arresting officer, at the point of arrest, shall inform the offender of the availability of the services of the bail commissioner. [If the offender elects to utilize the bail commissioner's services and is not indigent, the offender shall pay the bail commissioner's fee directly to the bail commissioner. If the offender elects to utilize the services of the bail commissioner, but claims indigence, the court shall, to the extent of available funding, utilize all possible means to pay the bail commissioner's fee, and shall include written evidence of fee payment in the offender's case file.] In any case where the offender has been arrested for a crime of violence against an individual person, including any act of stalking or criminal threatening, and the bail commissioner determines that the offender may be released pending arraignment, the arresting agency shall attempt to contact the alleged victim for at least one hour to inform the alleged victim of the pending release and the conditions of bail. This contact may be either in-person or by telephone. If the alleged victim has not been reached within one hour of the bail commissioner's setting of the terms and conditions of release, the police shall immediately provide notice to the alleged victim through either telephonic voicemail or written notice left at the alleged victim's last known residence. The police shall document all efforts to contact the alleged victim and the time of the notification provided under this section. The offender shall not be released until the alleged victim has been notified, or one hour has elapsed from the time the bail commissioner set the terms and conditions of release, whichever is earlier.
I-a. On a monthly basis, the court shall pay each bail commissioner the fees as authorized by RSA 597:20 that each bail commissioner is entitled to from the previous month.
II. The court shall develop uniform criteria to evaluate and determine whether an offender is indigent or not indigent for the purpose of the offender's ability to [pay] repay the bail commissioner's fee. Based on the criteria, the court shall render a finding of indigent or not indigent for the purpose of the offender's ability to [pay] repay the bail commissioner's fee.
III. If the court finds that the offender is not indigent for the purpose of [paying] repaying the bail commissioner's fee, the court shall order that the offender [shall] reimburse the court for payment of the bail commissioner's fee. The court may extend the time period for such repayment in its discretion to allow the offender reasonable time to make the repayment, except that in no case shall the time period exceed one year from the date the case was closed.
IV. If the court finds that the offender is indigent for the purpose of [paying] repaying the bail commissioner's fee, the offender shall not be liable to pay the fee.
3 Bail and Recognizances; Bail Commissioners; Term and Identification Card. Amend RSA 597:17 to read as follows:
597:17 Term and Identification Card.
I. Bail commissioners shall be commissioned for 5 years and continue in office until their successors shall have qualified. A bail commissioner's appointment may be revoked for cause at any time during the term of his or her appointment by the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief justice's designee.
II. The chief justice of the superior court or the administrative judge of [the superior court or] the circuit court shall issue an identification card to each qualified bail commissioner in the state. The identification card shall be made of a durable material similar to that of a driver's license, and shall contain a photograph of the bail commissioner, the terms and dates of the bail commissioner's appointment, and any other information deemed necessary by the chief justice of the superior court or the administrative judge of the circuit court. The chief justice of the superior court or the administrative judge of the circuit court may enter into an agreement, through an interagency memorandum of understanding or any other appropriate mechanism, with the department of safety, division of motor vehicles to facilitate the production and issuance of the identification card.
4 Bail and Recognizances; Bail Commissioners; Educational Requirements for Bail Commissioners. RSA 597:18-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
597:18-a Educational Requirements for Bail Commissioners.
I. The chief magistrate, in consultation with the chief justice of the superior court and the administrative judge of the circuit court, shall develop an education program to ensure that new bail commissioners are adequately trained and that existing bail commissioners have current information regarding the status of the laws affecting bail commissioners and the powers and duties of bail commissioners. This education program shall include the laws specific to bail and the conditions that may be imposed by the bail commissioners.
II. Upon appointment, each bail commissioner shall receive at least 16 hours of training. Training may be in person, remote, or on the job training by shadowing another bail commissioner for a period of time as determined by the courts.
III. Each bail commissioner shall undergo 8 hours of annual training that shall include any changes to the law made by the general court or as a result of court decisions. An updated copy of all laws concerning bail commissioners and a copy of the latest edition of the Bail Commissioner's Handbook shall be provided to each bail commissioner at this annual training.
IV. Bail commissioners shall be paid for time spent during training as follows:
(a) Bail commissioners shall be paid a $50 stipend for each 8 hour block of training. Any in person training requiring less that 8 hours shall nonetheless be paid for a minimum 8 hour block. Remote training less than 8 hours may be prorated based upon the $50 per 8 hour block standard.
(b) If the training for newly appointed bail commissioners exceeds 16 hours, the newly appointed bail commissioners shall not be paid for more than 2, 8-hour blocks.
5 New Section; Bail and Recognizances; Bail Commissioners; Duties. Amend RSA 597 by inserting after section 18-a the following new section:
597:18-b Duties.
I. The bail commissioners shall provide to any person bailed by the bail commissioner under this chapter information on local services that are available to the person relating to homelessness, hunger, mental health, and substance use issues.
II. The bail commissioners shall notify any person bailed by the bail commissioners under this chapter that any violations of a protective order are non-bailable.
I. The judicial branch shall determine the amount of funding needed in order to pay for the fees for bail commissioners and to establish the identification cards as directed in sections 1-4 of this act, and that amount is hereby appropriated in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 to the judicial branch.
II. The judicial branch shall determine the amount of funding needed to establish 15 new magistrates who will serve at such locations as the chief justice of the supreme court designates and who shall be empowered to perform certain judicial functions relative to bail, arraignments, and warrants, and that amount is hereby appropriated in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 to the judicial branch.
III. The appropriations in paragraphs I and II shall not lapse. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
I. Section 6 of this act shall take effect June 30, 2024.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect January 1, 2025.
23-0431
Revised 2/12/24
Amended 1/26/24
HB 318-FN-A- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT #2023-2460h)
AN ACT relative to bail commissioners and making appropriations to the judicial branch.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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Estimated State Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | None
| |||||
Expenditures | $0 | In excess of $1,580,000 | In excess of $3,160,000 | In Excess of $3,160,000 | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund
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Appropriations | Indeterminable Increase - unclear for which fiscal year or years are intended to be funded with these appropriations | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund
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• Does this bill provide sufficient funding to cover estimated expenditures? [X] Yes • Does this bill authorize new positions to implement this bill? [X] N/A | ||||||
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Estimated Political Subdivision Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
County Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
County Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
Local Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Local Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | ||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill amends the bail commissioner's fee to $50, makes various changes relative to the bailing of offenders by bail commissioners, allows the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or designee to, revoke the appointment of a bail commissioner for cause. The bill also provides for new requirements for the issuance of identification cards to bail commissioners, provides new provisions regarding the training and duties of bail commissioners and makes certain appropriations to the Judicial Branch. The appropriations are for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024; however the effective date of the bill is January 1, 2025 to establish the 15 magistrates and pay the bail commissioner fees and establish the identification cards. As a result, it is unclear for what period of time the appropriation is intended to fund the magistrate positions and bail commissioner fees.
The Judicial Branch has estimated the annual cost to repay bail commissioners would be approximately $848,000. Increasing the bail commissioner's fee from $40 to $50 would increase this annual cost estimate $1,060,000. The Branch estimates the cost of 15 highly qualified magistrates, comparable to hearing officers, would exceed $2 million per year. The salaries could be reduced slightly but this may result in difficulty hiring qualified candidates. There may be efficiencies gained between paying magistrates and payments to bail commissioners that would reduce the overall cost, (such as current bail commissioners being hired as magistrates) but the Branch cannot project any such efficiencies at this time. The Branch assumes additional staff would be needed to pay bail commissioners on the timetable established in the bill and additional technology costs would be incurred to support the 15 new magistrates. The Branch estimates these costs may be about $100,000 per year.
The Department of Safety indicates the requirement for law enforcement to attempt to contact the alleged victims could cause an unknown impact on state expenditures, therefore the fiscal impact is indeterminable.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association (NHMA) states the bill would only appear to affect municipal expenditures in the proposed amendment to RSA 597:2-b. This would change police processes to require an attempt to contact an alleged victim in cases of a crime of violence against an individual person, including any act of stalking or criminal threatening, where a bail commissioner has granted the defendant personal recognizance (PR) bail. The bill would require that the police department spend the hour following the issuance of PR attempting to contact the alleged victim to let him/her know of the bail conditions and would require that the defendant not be released until after the department contacts the victim or the hour has elapsed. The NHMA makes the following assumptions:
NHMA was unable to find reliable statistics on the number of qualifying crimes and the likelihood of PR bail being issued in such instances. However, NHMA notes that such data would not be useful to determine the length of time needed to contact an alleged victim and knows of no data sets that could be consulted to produce such estimates. Using data from the Bureau Labor Statistics (BLS) for New Hampshire, the NHMA provided an estimate of the maximum likely costs for the additional work of two officers per offense including overtime pay:
| Mean Hourly Wage | Overtime (Hourly Wage x 1.5) |
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $42.90 | $64.35 |
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers | $30.04 | $45.06 |
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If the offense requires two officers on overtime for one hour: | Overtime | |
Supervisors x 2 x $64.35 | $128.70 | |
Supervisor +Patrol Officer 2x ($64.35 + $45.06) | $109.41 | |
Patrol Officer x 2 x $45.06 | $90.12 |
NHMA indicates there may be additional costs associated with searching for alleged victims, including wear on equipment, gasoline costs, and other costs. Additionally, NHMA notes there may be no additional costs in instances where officers are already on duty and no additional wage costs would be incurred and/or when the alleged victim may be reachable by phone or immediately available in person and no additional costs would be incurred. Therefore, the possible range estimate for any costs is $0 - $128.70 per offense.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties indicates, while there would be insignificant costs to the county attorney’s offices; the costs to the correctional facilities are indeterminable. Such costs may include increased salary and technology costs to execute hearings outside of the current schedule with the expanded magistrate program. In addition, the requirement for certain offenses to go in front of a judge, could lead to increased holding costs at the county correctional facilities.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Safety, Judicial Branch, New Hampshire Municipal Association and New Hampshire Association of Counties