HB 0533

AN ACT relative to disqualification of judges.

SPONSORS: Rep. Rice, Belk 7; Rep. J. Wood; Belk 7; Rep. Bartlett, Belk 6; Rep. Rosen, Belk 7; Sen. Boyce, Dist 4

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.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

1 New Section; Disqualification of Judges. Amend RSA 492 by inserting after section 1 the following new section:

I. No judge or master shall hear or participate in any way in any proceeding in any court of this state when that judge is, or should be, disqualified from such participation for any reason provided by law or the rules governing the professional conduct of members of the judiciary. Participation shall include any involvement whatsoever in a case from which that member is or should be disqualified, excepting inadvertent involvement. Promptly after discovering any inadvertent involvement, the disqualified judge shall make a written report of that inadvertent involvement, fully describing the situation, and forward that report to the clerk of the court in which the matter is pending. The clerk shall, forthwith, provide a copy of this report to each party of record in the case. Such filing and notification to each party shall preclude any further action based on the inadvertent involvement unless a party, no later than 10 days following the date of the clerk's notice regarding the situation, files a written objection stating a substantive reason fully describing why this inadvertent involvement has prejudiced the matter. A hearing on this objection shall be held before another judge of that court. That hearing shall determine whether or not the inadvertent involvement prejudiced the case and, if so, what the appropriate measure or measures for curing that prejudice shall be.

II. Whenever a judge disqualifies himself or herself from participating in any court proceeding, the fact of that disqualification, the date on which the disqualification occurred, and a detailed statement of the reasons for the disqualification shall be entered in the permanent court record of that case and shall be available for public inspection.

III. Whenever any party to a court proceeding believes, based upon detailed and substantial reason, that the judge or master assigned or scheduled to hear or otherwise act in that matter ought to be disqualified from that case, that party may, in writing, request such disqualification. If the judge or master declines to disqualify himself or herself, the clerk of that court shall, in writing, so notify the party requesting disqualification. That party may then, no later than 10 days after the date of the clerk's notice, file an objection to that refusal to disqualify. Such objection shall contain the detailed and substantial reason for the original request and may contain any additional information pertinent to the original request that has become available since the original request. This objection shall be heard by another judge of the same court who shall determine whether or not the original judge or master shall be disqualified from further involvement in the case. The judge hearing the objection may also make such additional orders as are necessary to address any issue or issues arising from the original refusal to disqualify.

The Administrative Office of the Courts stated this bill would increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2002 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or county and local expenditures.

The Office stated this bill would require additional court hearings on issues of disqualification where a party disagrees with a judge's refusal to be recused. The Office stated there is no way to anticipate the number of hearings that would be required or the number of written orders under this bill. This bill would require additional judge, clerk, and staff time to hear and process requests for disqualifications. The Office further stated this bill would have a fiscal impact on the judicial branch but the full extent is difficult to determine, since it is impossible to predict the number of requests for disqualifications.