HB 582-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2003 SESSION
03/09
HOUSE BILL 582-FN
This bill increases the penalty for abandoning a motor vehicle from a violation to a misdemeanor.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03-0848
03/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three
AN ACT increasing the penalty for abandoning a motor vehicle.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Abandoning a Vehicle; Penalty. Amend RSA 262:40-c to read as follows:
262:40-c Abandoning a Vehicle; Penalty. No person shall abandon a motor vehicle, registered or unregistered, on any way or on any property other than his or her own without the permission of the owner or lessee of said property or, in the case of public property, of the police department having jurisdiction over the property. For the purposes of this section, a vehicle shall be considered abandoned if it has been left for more than 24 hours without the appropriate permission being given. The last owner of record of a motor vehicle found abandoned, as shown by the files of the department, shall be deemed prima facie to have been the owner of such motor vehicle at the time it was abandoned and to have been the person who abandoned the motor vehicle or caused or procured its abandonment. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a [violation] misdemeanor and may be subject to the loss of driver's license and registration as provided in RSA 263:56 and RSA 261:179. The court may assess costs of abandoning a vehicle, including but not limited to, towing and storage costs, against any person convicted of abandoning a vehicle in violation of this section, and the director may suspend the driver's license of any person who has not paid such costs.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.
LBAO
03-0848
1/16/03
HB 582-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT increasing the penalty for abandoning a motor vehicle.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council and the Association of Counties have determined this bill may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2004 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures or state, county and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch stated this bill would increase the penalty for abandoning a vehicle from a violation to a misdemeanor. As an unspecified misdemeanor, it would be a class A misdemeanor. A class A misdemeanor carries the potential of incarceration, therefor, the potential for de novo appeals to the superior court for a jury trial. The Judicial Branch does not anticipate an increase in the number of prosecutions for abandoning a vehicle, however, the potential for jury trials in the superior court could make for a greater fiscal impact.
The Judicial Council stated it is not possible to predict the number of cases which may result from the enactment of this new misdemeanor, it is therefor not possible to determine the potential cost associated with this bill. However, it is assumed that the individual so charged has been determined to be indigent, and for the purposes of this fiscal note, the individual is an adult although juveniles may also be charged at different rates of payment. The court will appoint in the first instance either a public defender or a contract attorney who will be paid at the fixed contract rate of $250. If assigned counsel must be used, due to either conflict of interest or reasons of caseload limitations, the $60 per hour rate will apply to the case, with a fee cap of $1,000. The fee cap may be waived upon motion filed in advance with the court. If any "services other than counsel" are filed as a necessary part of the defense of a case, they would be payable from Indigent Defense Fund.
The Association of Counties stated this bill establishes a new misdemeanor and such a penalty creates a cost for the county correctional facilities. The direct impact on county expenditures will depend on the number of individuals sentenced, as well as those who are incarcerated pre-trial in a county facility. The average annual cost for counties to incarcerate inmates is $21,634.
LBAO
03-0848
1/16/03
Page 2
The Department of Justice stated the agency seldom becomes involved in the prosecution of the offense of abandoning a vehicle, and it is assumed that the agency would continue to not be involved. If the agency were to become involved, the number of instances would be negligible and the cost of prosecution would not increase as a direct result of changes contemplated in this bill.