0177-hb 0522

This bill broadens the scope of information required to appear on the sexual offender registry list and the means of collecting and reporting such information. The bill also makes subsequent offenses for knowingly failing to register punishable as a class B felony.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

177:1 Duty to Report. RSA 651-B:4, I is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

I. Any person required to be registered under this chapter shall be required to report such person's current mailing address and place of residence or temporary domicile to the local law enforcement agency within 30 days after the person's release from custody following conviction, or within 30 days after the person's date of establishment of residence in New Hampshire if convicted elsewhere. Such report shall also be made annually within 30 days after each anniversary of the person's date of birth, and additionally within 30 days after any change of address or place of residence. Forms for reporting shall be provided by the department to each municipal police and county sheriff department, and shall include a copy to be receipted and returned to the person filing the report and a copy to be forwarded to the division. The division shall include such address report information in the LENS system, and shall also use the information to maintain a current address in the person's criminal record as maintained under RSA 106-B:14.

177:2 New Subparagraph; Persons to be Included on Sex Offender Registry List. Amend RSA 651-B:7, II(b)(1)by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new subparagraph:

(D) Outstanding arrest warrants, together with the information listed in RSA 651-B:7, II(b)(1)(A)-(C), for any sexual offender or offender against children who has not complied with the offender's obligations to register under this chapter.

IV. The division shall [~~forward~~] provide a copy of the list described in this section to each local law enforcement agency at periodic intervals, but in no event less frequently than once each month. The list shall be made available to interested members of the public upon request to the local law enforcement agency. The department shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, establishing procedures for the collection of information described in this section, the transmission of the information from the division to the local law enforcement agencies, and the conditions under which the list shall be made available to the public. These rules shall enable the public to request information about a named individual or about all listed individuals residing or confined in [~~a specified city or town~~] the state. The rules shall also include provisions for identifying and maintaining a record of the parties to whom information from the list has been disclosed, and may also provide for the imposition of a reasonable fee to defray the administrative costs of collecting the information and making the information available to the public.

I. A sexual offender or offender against children who negligently fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation.

II. A sexual offender or offender against children who knowingly fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

III. A sexual offender or offender against children previously convicted of a misdemeanor pursuant to paragraph II who knowingly fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter shall be guilty of a class B felony.

IV. Any person who violates the provisions of RSA 651-B:7 shall be guilty of a violation.

The Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council and the Department of Corrections have determined this bill, as amended by the House, 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.

The Administrative Office of the Courts stated this bill creates a new category of class B felony offense. 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 assumed that any cases arising from the enactment of this law for which the Indigent Defense Fund may be liable, will, in the first instance be handled by the public defender or contract attorneys who accept these cases on a fixed fee basis of $687.50 for each felony charge. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 with a fee cap of $3,000 for felony cases, will apply. If a motion to exceed the fee cap is approved and/or "services other than counsel" are approved, these will also be chargeable to the Indigent Defense Fund. 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 $19,388 per inmate. The average cost of probation/parole supervision was $842 per inmate.

The Department of Justice has stated this bill will have no fiscal impact on the Department.

The Department of Safety has stated this bill will have no significant fiscal impact on the Department.