HB 1303-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2001 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 1303-FN
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill creates a class A misdemeanor offense for knowingly depriving the rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States, on account of another's religion, national origin, alienage, color, race, sex, or physical disability while wearing a mask, hood, or other device designed to conceal the identity of the wearer.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
01-2121
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One
AN ACT prohibiting the wearing of certain facial coverings.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Breaches of the Peace; Certain Facial Coverings Prohibited. Amend RSA 644 by inserting after section 17-a the following new section:
644:18 Certain Facial Coverings Prohibited. Any person who, while wearing a mask, hood, or other device designed to conceal the identity of the wearer, knowingly subjects another person or knowingly causes another person to be subjected to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States, on account of another's religion, national origin, alienage, color, race, sex, or physical disability, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2003.
LBAO
01-2121
8/17/01
HB 1303-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT prohibiting the wearing of certain facial coverings.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Council and the Association of Counties have determined this bill may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2003 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures or state, county and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Administrative Office of the Courts does not anticipate that this legislation will have any significant fiscal impact on the judicial branch.
The Judicial Council stated that the new penalty will carry with it a criminal proceeding and the potential appointment of counsel. The 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 $250 for each misdemeanor charge. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 with a fee cap of $1,000 for misdemeanor 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 Association of Counties stated that this bill may increase county expenditures by an indeterminable amount. The Association is unable to determine how many individuals will be incarcerated at a county correctional facility as a result of this bill. The FY 2000 average per diem cost to incarcerate an inmate at a NH county jail is $59.27.
The Department of Justice stated they are unable to determine the fiscal impact of this legislation.