HB 1493-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2000 SESSION
05/09
HOUSE BILL 1493-FN
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill increases the prison terms for persons found guilty of committing felonies while in possession of firearms, when the firearm was discharged during the offense or when death or serious bodily injury resulted.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
00-2318
05/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand
AN ACT increasing minimum prison terms for felons.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Increasing Minimum Sentences for Felonies Involving Firearms. Amend RSA 651:2, II-b to read as follows:
II-b. A person convicted of the felonious use of a firearm, as provided in RSA 650-A:1, shall, in addition to any punishment provided for the underlying felony, be given a minimum mandatory sentence of [one year] 5 years' imprisonment for a first offense and a minimum mandatory sentence of [3] 10 years' imprisonment for any subsequent offense. Neither the whole nor any part of the additional sentence of imprisonment hereby provided shall be served concurrently with any other term nor shall the whole or any part of such additional term of imprisonment be suspended. No action brought to enforce sentencing under this section shall be continued for sentencing, nor shall the provisions of RSA 651-A relative to parole apply to any sentence of imprisonment imposed.
2 Increasing Minimum Sentences for Felonies Involving Firearms. Amend RSA 651:2, II-g to read as follows:
II-g. If a person is convicted of a felony, an element of which is the possession, use or attempted use of a deadly weapon, and the deadly weapon is a firearm, such person may be sentenced to a maximum term of 20 years' imprisonment in lieu of any other sentence prescribed for the crime. The person shall be given a minimum mandatory sentence of not less than [3] 5 years' imprisonment for a first offense and a minimum mandatory sentence of not less than [6] 10 years' imprisonment if such person has been previously convicted of any state or federal offense for which the maximum penalty provided was imprisonment in excess of one year, and an element of which was the possession, use or attempted use of a firearm. Neither the whole nor any part of the minimum sentence imposed under this paragraph shall be suspended or reduced.
3 New Paragraphs; Increasing Minimum Sentences for Felonies Involving Firearms. Amend RSA 651:2 by inserting after paragraph II-g the following new paragraphs:
II-h. Where a person is convicted of a felony, an element of which is the possession, use or attempted use of a firearm, and that firearm is discharged during the commission of the felony, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.
II-i. Where a person is convicted of a felony, an element of which is the possession, use or attempted use of a firearm, and that firearm is discharged during the commission of the felony and death or serious bodily injury results, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment.
4 Increasing Minimum Sentences for Felonies Involving Firearms. Amend RSA 650-A:1 to read as follows:
650-A:1 Felonious Use of Firearms. A person is guilty of a class B felony if he commits or attempts to commit any felony when armed with a pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun or any other firearm. For any subsequent offense, a person shall be guilty of a class A felony, and subject to the penalties under RSA 651:2, II-b and 651:2, II-g through II-i.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.
LBAO
00-2318
12/16/99
HB 1493-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT increasing minimum prison terms for felons.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council, and the Department of Corrections have determined this bill may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2001 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or on state, county and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Administrative Office of the Courts stated this bill increases the prison terms for persons found guilty of committing felonies while in the possession of firearms, when the firearm was discharged during the offense, or when death or serious bodily injury occur. The Office has determined the legislation will have little, if any, fiscal impact on the Branch, as it will not significantly impact caseload.
The Judicial Council stated the impact of this bill lies in the significantly enhanced sentences for subsequent offenses committed after a first conviction. When the stakes are increased significantly, the result is most often a more vigorous defense. Also, the cases are more apt to go to trial. As a result increased case time, which directly translates into reduced capacity of the Public Defender Program, and increased time for contract attorneys. The Contract Attorney Program does have a provision for the award of extraordinary credit by the Judicial Council for those cases which have a minimum of 25 hours. These cases with enhanced minimum sentences are likely to become eligible. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60, with a fee cap of $3,000 for felony offenses will apply. There is a greater likelihood a motion to exceed the cap will occur in these cases. The Council is unable to predict the number of cases or trials which may arise as a result of the passage of this legislation, therefor, they are unable to estimate the dollar amount of the anticipated costs of such representation.
The Department of Corrections is unable to predict how many, if any, individuals would be incarcerated as result of this legislation. The average cost of incarceration for FY 1999 was $19,358 per inmate. The average cost of probation/parole supervision was $842 per inmate.
LBAO
00-2318
12/16/99
Page 2
The Department of Justice has stated the provisions of this bill can be handled within the existing budget.