Revision: Nov. 29, 2023, 3:39 p.m.
2024 SESSION
24-3126.1
09/05
SENATE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to criminal pre-trial services and monitoring.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits criminal defendants on pre-trial release from being required to pay for pre-trial services or monitoring, including electronic monitoring, with the cost instead the be paid by the court where the defendant is charged or through appropriations to the agency performing the pretrial services and monitoring. This bill further requires the agency performing the pretrial services and monitoring to use the least restrictive interventions that are necessary unless otherwise ordered by the court.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-3126.1
09/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to criminal pre-trial services and monitoring.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Bail and Recognizances; General Provisions; Release of a Defendant Pending Trial. Amend RSA 597:2 by inserting after paragraph X the following new paragraph:
XI. New Hampshire court systems, the state, and counties shall not, under any circumstances, require defendants to pay for their own pre-trial services or monitoring, including, but not limited to, electronic monitoring equipment and use thereof. In this paragraph, "pre-trial services or monitoring" includes any services or monitoring imposed as a condition of release under this chapter, whether it be performed by an agency of the state or a county, the court, or an agent thereof. Pretrial services or monitoring, including but not limited to electronic monitoring equipment and use thereof, shall be paid for by the New Hampshire court in which the defendant is charged. The agency performing the pre-trial services or monitoring shall implement evidence-based monitoring practices of defendants released pre-arraignment and pre-trial with the least restrictive interventions and practices that are necessary to enhance public safety and to ensure the defendants’ return to court, unless otherwise specifically ordered by the court pursuant to this section. A defendant shall not be denied or offered a different amount of pretrial services than the defendant would have been offered before the enactment of this paragraph. The agency performing the pre-trial services or monitoring shall determine an estimated cost of pretrial services and request adequate appropriation in its yearly budget.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.