HB 253 - AS INTRODUCED
2025 SESSION
25-0390
09/11
HOUSE BILL 253
AN ACT relative to interest-bearing pooled trust accounts maintained by lawyers.
SPONSORS: Rep. Corcoran, Hills. 28; Rep. Belcher, Carr. 4
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires attorneys in control of interest-bearing pooled trust accounts to remit quarterly the interest or dividends to the public defender's office, provided that the public defender's office complies with certain restrictions.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
25-0390
09/11
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
AN ACT relative to interest-bearing pooled trust accounts maintained by lawyers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Short Title. This act may be known as and cited to as the "New Hampshire Public Defender Funding and Pooled Trust Accounts Reform Act."
2 New Section; Attorneys and Counselors; Regulation of the Practice of Law. Amend RSA 311 by inserting after section 13 the following new section:
311:14 Interest-Bearing Pooled Trust Accounts; New Hampshire Public Defender.
I. Any lawyer who has an office in New Hampshire or practices in New Hampshire; is not a judge, attorney general, public defender, United States attorney, district attorney, on duty with the armed services, or employed by a local, state or federal government, and is not otherwise engaged in the private practice of law; and is a not corporate counsel or teacher of law and is not otherwise engaged in the private practice of law shall remit interest or dividends, as the case may be, from all interest-bearing pooled trust accounts that they control, at least quarterly, to the New Hampshire public defender's office.
II. The New Hampshire public defender's office shall be eligible to receive the funds identified in paragraph I only if they have not contributed any funds to any non-profit organization or political campaign during that quarter. The public defender's office shall also publish its budget in full and according to accepted accounting norms, no later than 90 days after the close of the fiscal year.
III. If the New Hampshire public defender's office fails to comply in full with paragraph II, the funds identified in paragraph I shall be remitted to the general fund.
IV. The supreme court and the New Hampshire bar association are authorized to establish rules governing the provisions in this section, but shall not make or enforce any rule inconsistent with the provisions of this section.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
| Date | Body | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 5, 2025 | House | Hearing |
Jan. 23, 2025: Public Hearing: 02/05/2025 10:15 am LOB 206-208
Jan. 7, 2025: Introduced 01/08/2025 and referred to Judiciary HJ 2 P. 12