sb 0383

SB 383 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

AN ACT relative to the location of district courts within judicial districts and changing the names of certain judicial districts.

SPONSORS: Sen. Barnes, Dist 17, Sen. Gatsas, Dist 16; Rep. Stone, Rock 7; Rep. Chalbeck, Rock 8; Rep. Sloan, Rock 12; Rep. Bishop, Rock 12

This bill provides that suitable district court facilities shall be determined by the department of administrative services, upon recommendation of the supreme court.

The bill also changes the names of certain judicial districts to reflect their current configuration.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to the location of district courts within judicial districts and changing the names of certain judicial districts.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 District Court Facilities; Location. RSA 502-A:1 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

I. A comprehensive system of judicial districts, each with a district court, is hereby organized, constituted and established as follows:

(a) PORTSMOUTH DISTRICT. The Portsmouth district shall consist of the city of Portsmouth and the towns of Newington, Greenland, Rye, and New Castle.

(b) HAMPTON-EXETER DISTRICT. The Hampton-Exeter district shall consist of the towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls, North Hampton, South Hampton, Seabrook, Exeter, Newmarket, Stratham, Newfields, Fremont, East Kingston, Kensington, Epping, and Brentwood.

(d) AUBURN DISTRICT. The Auburn district shall consist of the towns of Auburn, Candia, Deerfield, Nottingham, Raymond, and Northwood.

(e) SALEM DISTRICT. The Salem district shall consist of the towns of Salem and Windham in Rockingham county and the town of Pelham in Hillsborough county.

(f) PLAISTOW DISTRICT. The Plaistow district shall consist of the towns of Plaistow, Hampstead, Kingston, Newton, Atkinson, and Danville.

(g) DOVER-SOMERSWORTH-DURHAM DISTRICT. The Dover-Somersworth-Durham district shall consist of the cities of Dover and Somersworth and the towns of Rollinsford, Durham, Lee, and Madbury.

(h) ROCHESTER DISTRICT. The Rochester district court shall consist of the city of Rochester and the towns of Barrington, Milton, New Durham, Farmington, Strafford, and Middleton.

(i) LACONIA DISTRICT. The Laconia district shall consist of the city of Laconia and the towns of Meredith, New Hampton, Gilford, Belmont, Alton, Gilmanton, Center Harbor, and Barnstead.

(j) DISTRICT COURT FOR NORTHERN CARROLL COUNTY. The district for northern Carroll county shall consist of the towns of Conway, Bartlett, Jackson, Eaton, Chatham, Hart's Location, Albany, Madison and the unincorporated places of Hale's Location, Cutt's Grant, Hadley's Purchase, and those portions of the towns of Waterville and Livermore within the watershed of the Saco River and its tributaries.

(k) DISTRICT COURT FOR SOUTHERN CARROLL COUNTY. The district for southern Carroll county shall consist of the towns of Ossipee, Tamworth, Freedom, Effingham, Wakefield, Wolfeboro, Brookfield, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough, and Sandwich.

(l) CONCORD DISTRICT. The Concord district shall consist of the city of Concord, and the towns of Loudon, Canterbury, Dunbarton, Bow, Hopkinton, Pittsfield, Chichester, and Epsom.

(m) HOOKSETT DISTRICT. The Hooksett district shall consist of the towns of Allenstown, Pembroke, and Hooksett.

(n) FRANKLIN-TILTON DISTRICT. The Franklin-Tilton district shall consist of the city of Franklin and the towns of Northfield, Danbury, Andover, Boscawen, Salisbury, Hill, and Webster in Merrimack county and the towns of Sanbornton and Tilton in Belknap county.

(o) HENNIKER-HILLSBOROUGH DISTRICT. The Henniker-Hillsborough district shall consist of the towns of Henniker, Warner, and Bradford in Merrimack county and the towns of Hillsborough, Deering, Windsor, Antrim and Bennington in Hillsborough county.

(p) NEW LONDON DISTRICT. The New London district shall consist of the towns of New London, Wilmot, Newbury, and Sutton.

(q) MANCHESTER DISTRICT. The Manchester district shall consist of the city of Manchester.

(r) NASHUA DISTRICT. The Nashua district shall consist of the city of Nashua and the towns of Hudson and Hollis.

(s) MERRIMACK DISTRICT. The Merrimack district shall consist of the towns of Merrimack, Litchfield, and Bedford.

(t) MILFORD DISTRICT. The Milford district shall consist of the towns of Milford, Brookline, Amherst, Mason, Wilton, Lyndeborough, and Mont Vernon.

(u) JAFFREY-PETERBOROUGH DISTRICT. The Jaffrey-Peterborough district shall consist of the towns of Peterborough, Hancock, Greenville, Greenfield, New Ipswich, Temple, and Sharon in Hillsborough county and the towns of Jaffrey, Dublin, Fitzwilliam, and Rindge in Cheshire county.

(v) GOFFSTOWN DISTRICT. The Goffstown district shall consist of the towns of Goffstown, Weare, New Boston, and Francestown.

(w) KEENE DISTRICT. The Keene district shall consist of the city of Keene and the towns of Stoddard, Westmoreland, Surry, Gilsum, Sullivan, Nelson, Roxbury, Marlow, Swanzey, Marlborough, Winchester, Richmond, Hinsdale, Harrisville, Walpole, Alstead, Troy, and Chesterfield.

(x) CLAREMONT-NEWPORT DISTRICT. The Claremont-Newport district shall consist of the city of Claremont and the towns of Cornish, Unity, Charlestown, Acworth, Langdon, Plainfield, Newport, Grantham, Croydon, Springfield, Sunapee, Goshen, Lempster, and Washington.

(y) HANOVER-LEBANON DISTRICT. The Hanover-Lebanon district shall consist of the towns of Hanover, Orford, Lyme, Lebanon, Enfield, Canaan, Grafton, and Orange.

(z) HAVERHILL DISTRICT. The Haverhill district shall consist of the towns of Haverhill, Bath, Landaff, Benton, Piermont, and Warren.

(aa) LITTLETON DISTRICT. The Littleton district shall consist of the towns of Littleton, Monroe, Lyman, Lisbon, Franconia, Bethlehem, Sugar Hill, and Easton.

(bb) PLYMOUTH-BRISTOL-LINCOLN DISTRICT. The Plymouth-Bristol-Lincoln district shall consist of the towns of Plymouth, Bristol, Dorchester, Groton, Wentworth, Rumney, Ellsworth, Thornton, Campton, Ashland, Hebron, Holderness, Bridgewater, Alexandria, Lincoln, Woodstock, and those portions of the towns of Livermore and Waterville not within the watershed of the Saco River and its tributaries.

(cc) BERLIN-GORHAM DISTRICT. The Berlin-Gorham district shall consist of the city of Berlin and the towns of Gorham, Milan, Dummer, Shelburne, and Randolph and the unincorporated places of Cambridge, Success, Bean's Purchase, Martin's Location, Green's Grant, Pinkham's Grant, Sargent's Purchase, Thompson and Meserve's Purchase, and Low and Burbank's Grant.

(dd) COLEBROOK DISTRICT. The Colebrook district shall consist of the towns of Colebrook, Pittsburg, Clarksville, Wentworth's Location, Errol, Millsfield, Columbia, Stewartstown, and Stratford and the unincorporated places of Dix's Grant, Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant, Second College Grant, Dixville, Erving's Location, and Odell.

(ee) LANCASTER DISTRICT. The Lancaster district shall consist of the towns of Lancaster, Stark, Northumberland, Carroll, Whitefield, Dalton, and Jefferson, and the unincorporated places of Kilkenny, Bean's Grant, Chandler's Purchase, and Crawford's Purchase.

II. In each judicial district, the court shall be located in a city or town within the judicial district in a location and facility designated pursuant to RSA 490-B:3, having regard for the convenience of the communities within the district, provided, however, that the court shall not be located in any building which does not meet the minimum standards prescribed by the New Hampshire court accreditation commission pursuant to RSA 490:5-c. The court shall bear the name of the city or town in which it is located.