0113-hb 1382

This bill makes it a class B felony for an inmate to harass corrections personnel by causing or attempting to cause such employee to come in contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, or feces by throwing or expelling such fluid or material.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.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

II. An inmate is guilty of aggravated assault on a corrections staff member when, with intent to harass, threaten, or alarm a person whom the inmate knows or reasonably should know to be an employee of such facility, or an employee of the department of corrections, or an employee of any law enforcement agency, the inmate causes or attempts to cause such employee to come in contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, or feces by throwing or expelling such fluid or material.

(a) "Official custody" means custody in a penal institution or other confinement by an order of a court.

(b) "Inmate" means an offender, as defined in RSA 21-H:2, VII, a person in pretrial confinement, or any person incarcerated in a local detention facility.

(c) "Facility" means a correctional facility or local correctional facility hospital, operated by the department of corrections.

[~~III.~~] IV. The offense is a class B felony if it is an aggravated assault as defined in paragraph II, or if the offense committed is simple assault as defined under RSA 631:2-a unless committed in a fight entered into by mutual consent, in which case it is a misdemeanor. The offense is a class A felony if the offense committed is first degree or second degree assault as defined under RSA 631:1 or RSA 631:2.

[~~IV.~~] V. If a person is convicted of the offense of assault under this section, the term of imprisonment authorized by RSA 651:2, II or RSA 651:6 shall be consecutive to and not concurrent with any other sentence to be served.

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.

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.