HB 1263-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2000 SESSION
HOUSE BILL 1263-FN
AN ACT establishing the crime of misrepresentation of law or facts of a case by a state judicial, executive, or legislative official.
SPONSORS: Rep. Marple, Merr 11; Rep. Gilman; Graf 1; Rep. Christiansen, Hills 23; Rep. R. Nowe, Rock 3; Rep. Boyce, Belk 5; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9
This bill makes it a class B felony for any judicial, executive, or legislative official to knowingly or otherwise misrepresent the law or facts of a case in a ruling, order, judgement, opinion or decree.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
00-2185
05/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand
AN ACT establishing the crime of misrepresentation of law or facts of a case by a state judicial, executive, or legislative official.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subdivision; Misrepresentation of Law or Facts by State Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Officials. Amend RSA 638 by inserting after section 27 the following new subdivision:
Misrepresentation of Law or Facts by Certain Officers
638:28 Misrepresentation of Law or Fact by State Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Officials.
I. Any judicial, executive, or legislative official employed, elected, or appointed to serve in the state of New Hampshire and holding the power to issue rulings, orders, judgments, opinions, or decrees, shall provide a memorandum with every decision justifying the findings of fact and law as well as the basis for the legal conclusions derived therefrom.
II. If the findings filed according to paragraph I are found to have been actually or constructively tailored to misrepresent the law or facts, or both, by the house judiciary committee, the official submitting those findings shall be guilty of a class B felony.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.
LBAO
00-2185
11/24/99
HB 1263-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing the crime of misrepresentation of law or facts of a case by a state judicial, executive, or legislative official.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), Judicial Council, and 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 state, county and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The AOC stated this bill creates a category class B felony offense. The AOC has determined this 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 a 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.
The Department of Justice stated this bill will have no fiscal impact on the Department.