HB 1421

This bill establishes a county extradition account in each county of the state to be administered by the county treasurer to pay for expenses related to the extradition of fugitives from justice. Such accounts shall not exceed $100,000 in any fiscal year. Any moneys in excess of $100,000 shall be deposited into the general fund. The bill makes an appropriation of $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002 to the county treasuries which shall be divided equally among the counties such that each county treasury receives $100,000.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.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 Subparagraph; State Treasurer; Application of Receipts; Criminal Extradition Accounts. Amend RSA 6:12, I by inserting after subparagraph (iiii) the following new subparagraph:

(jjjj) Moneys deposited into the criminal extradition accounts within each county of the state pursuant to RSA 612:24 and RSA 612:-24-a.

2 Uniform Criminal Extradition Law; Expenses. RSA 612:24 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

I. All expenses of officers of this state in connection with extradition proceedings shall be paid out of funds from the extradition account established in RSA 612:24-a in the county wherein the crime is alleged to have been committed. In cases where the amount of such expenses exceeds the funds available in the extradition fund, expenses shall be paid out of the county treasury in the county where the crime is alleged to have been committed.

II. In cases where the cost of extradition exceeds the amount recovered under the provisions of RSA 612:24-a, the prosecutor may petition the court to have the extradited defendant reimburse funds expended from the county treasury.

III. Prosecuting attorneys may agree to share expenses whenever a fugitive from justice is charged in this state with offenses occurring in more than one county.

IV. Extradition of paroled convicts shall be the responsibility of the department of corrections, and the department of corrections shall be responsible for all costs incurred in the extradition of such parolees.

3 New Section; Uniform Criminal Extradition Law; Extradition Accounts. Amend RSA 612 by inserting after section 24 the following new section:

I. There is established an extradition account in each county in the state to be administered by the county treasurer pursuant to RSA 29:1, and to be used solely for the purpose of paying the extradition expenses of persons charged or convicted in this state, and who are fugitives from justice, as defined by the laws of this state. Payments from an extradition account shall require the approval of the county commissioners.

II. Any bail forfeited to and recovered by the state pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be deposited into the extradition account in the county where the crime is alleged to have been committed. Whenever bail is forfeited and recovered by the state, the county attorney shall determine whether all or a portion of such bail is deposited in the extradition account for that county. Any bail so forfeited and recovered and not deposited in the extradition account shall be deposited in the general fund. Any unexpended balance in a county's extradition account shall not lapse and shall be carried forward into the next fiscal. In no event shall the amount in any county extradition account exceed $100,000.

III.(a) A person charged in any superior court who has been released on bail, fails to appear in court, and is subsequently arrested in another state as a fugitive from justice, shall have any bail forfeited to the extradition account in the county where the charge is pending.

(b) If the cost of returning the defendant exceeds the amount of bail forfeited, the prosecutor may petition the court to have the extradited defendant reimburse funds expended from the county treasury in accordance with the provisions of RSA 612:24.

(c) Any bail forfeited that exceeds the expenses incurred in the course of extraditing the defendant shall be deposited in the general fund and treated as unrestricted general fund revenues in the year deposited.

IV. The county attorney and the county treasurer shall review quarterly the extradition account, the expenses of that county in connection with the extradition of fugitives from justice, and shall determine whether any funds in the account must be transferred to the general fund. All such transfers shall require the approval of the county commissioners.

V. The county attorney may petition the county treasurer to advance funds from the extradition account to the agents designated by the county attorney to return a fugitive from justice to this state. Such advances shall require the approval of the county commissioners. A full accounting of all expenses and the return of all unused funds shall be made by the agents no later than 5 business days from the date of return. All funds returned shall be credited to the extradition account from which they were paid.

4 Appropriation. The sum of $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002 is hereby appropriated to the county treasuries of this state for the purposes of this act. This appropriation shall be divided equally among the county treasuries such that each county treasury receives the sum of $100,000. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

The Office of Legislative Budget Assistant has determined this bill will increase state expenditures and county revenue by $1,000,000 in FY 2002. State revenue will decrease by an indeterminable amount in FY 2002. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or state and local revenue.

This bill appropriates $1,000,000 in FY 2002 from the general fund. Of the total appropriation, $100,000 will be distributed to each of the ten county treasuries.

Under current statute, all expenses of officers of this state in connection with extradition proceedings are paid out of the county treasury in the county wherein the crime is alleged to have been committed. This bill makes a one-time $1,000,000 appropriation that will be distributed equally among the ten counties and deposited in a new extradition account in each county. All expenses of officers of this state in connection with extradition proceedings will be paid from the fund. Under current law, any bail forfeited is deposited into the general fund. This bill states that any bail forfeited to and recovered by the state under the uniform criminal extradition law will be deposited into the extradition account. The amount of bail forfeited in extradition cases and the loss of general fund revenue cannot be estimated.

The Association of Counties stated that in aggregate the ten counties expended approximately $134,475 in out-of-state criminal extraditions in 2001. The Association further stated this amount does not include costs associated with deputy sheriff time and use of county vehicles. In addition with funding available, there is likely to be more extraditions carried out.

The Department of Safety estimated annual extradition expenses to the Department of $20,000, and that these costs would be eligible for reimbursement from county extradition accounts.