03/27/03 0934s

15may03... 1539h

29may03... 1710h

06/24/03 2273eba

2003 SESSION

03-1054

04/01

SENATE BILL 130-FN-LOCAL

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

ANALYSIS

This bill makes numerous changes to the statutes governing the administration county correctional facilities, the powers and duties of county correctional superintendents, and procedures relating to the custody and care of persons committed to a county correctional facility.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/27/03 0934s

15may03... 1539h

29may03... 1710h

06/24/03 2273eba

03-1054

04/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

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

237:1 County Departments of Corrections; Superintendent Duties. Amend RSA 30-B:4 to read as follows:

30-B:4 Superintendent; General Duties and Powers. The superintendent of the county department of corrections, as an agent of the county commissioners, shall be vested with all of the powers and subject to all the duties and limitations provided in this and other chapters relative to the management of county correctional facilities. These shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

I. The superintendent shall report to the board of county commissioners of [his] the county and be answerable to it for the efficient and effective operation of county correctional facilities.

I-a. The superintendent shall manage all operations of the department and administer and enforce the laws with which the department is charged.

I-b. The superintendent shall have every power enumerated in the laws, whether granted to the superintendent, the department, or any administrative unit of the department. In accordance with these provisions, the superintendent shall:

(a) Annually compile a budget which reflects all fiscal matters related to the operation of the department and each program and activity of the department.

(b) Exercise general supervisory authority over all department employees, in accordance with applicable personnel statutes and rules.

I-c. The superintendent shall adopt such reasonable policies and procedures necessary to carry out the duties of the department consistent with this chapter.

I-d. The superintendent shall not accept, on behalf of the department, any grants of money without first obtaining the express consent of the board of commissioners.

II. The superintendent shall, under the supervision of the county commissioners, have custody of all the inmates confined to those facilities.

III.(a) The superintendent shall, in person or by agent, receive all persons sent by lawful authority to the county department of corrections and retain them until they are released by process appropriate under law, except as provided in subparagraph (b).

(b) Whenever a person in the custody of the superintendent under subparagraph (a) is transported to a state court, the sheriff through the sheriff's deputies and bailiffs shall be responsible for custody and control of such person during the time period such person is in the courthouse.

IV. The superintendent shall monthly present to the presiding or designated justice and the clerk of the superior court in [his] the county a certified list of all pretrial prisoners who are or have been in [his] custody with the times and causes of their confinements or discharges.

V. The superintendent shall provide each prisoner in his or her custody with necessary sustenance, clothing, bedding, [and] shelter, and medical care.

VI. The superintendent of the county department of corrections shall cause to be kept a correct and itemized account of each employed prisoner's earnings and debits made and incurred on their account, and shall retain the balance of those earnings in escrow until the prisoner is discharged from the county department of corrections, whereupon the superintendent shall cause the prisoner to be paid the amount due and take a receipt.

237:2 County Departments of Corrections; Use of Force. Amend RSA 30-B:11 to read as follows:

30-B:11 Use of Force. Law enforcement officers [and guards] in county correctional facilities may use physical force as provided in RSA 627:5.

237:3 County Departments of Corrections; Commitment of Offenders. RSA 30-B:15 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

30-B:15 Place of Commitment; Expense of Protective Custody.

I. Any person committed to a county correctional facility for any offense shall be committed to a county correctional facility in the county in which the offense is committed.

II. The expense of lodging persons in a county correctional facility under the protective custody of a peace officer under RSA 172:15 or RSA 172-B:3 shall be a charge upon the county. 237:4 County Departments of Corrections; Employment of Offenders. Amend RSA 30-B:18 to read as follows:

30-B:18 Prisoners Awaiting Trial. Any prisoner confined to a county correctional facility while awaiting trial in the superior court or for any other cause, who is not likely to flee or commit an act of violence, and who wishes to work, may do so voluntarily upon approval of the [county commissioners] superintendent, subject to rules and regulations of the [commissioners and the superintendent of the] correctional facility.

237:5 Probationers and Parolees; Detention of Violators. Amend RSA 504-A:5 to read as follows:

504-A:5 Detention of Violators. Any probationer or parolee who is arrested under the authority of RSA 504-A:4 or RSA 651-A:25 shall be detained at the county jail closest to the location where he or she was arrested or any other suitable confinement facility in reasonable proximity to the location where he or she was arrested. Such probationer or parolee shall be detained there pending a preliminary hearing which shall be held within 72 hours from the time of arrest, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, or, if supervised pursuant to RSA 651-A:25, shall be detained pending a hearing, including a final revocation hearing, or transfer to the sending state. No [sheriff or] county correctional [administrator] superintendent shall refuse to accept a probationer or parolee committed to his or her facility for detention by or under the authority of a probation or parole officer.

237:6 Enforcement of Fines; Place of Committal. Amend RSA 618:6 to read as follows:

618:6 Place of Committal. Any person sentenced to pay a fine shall be ordered to be imprisoned until sentence is performed, or he or she is otherwise legally discharged, in [any] the county correctional facility [at the discretion of the court] in which the crime was committed. This section shall not be construed as authorizing the confinement of any juvenile under the age of 17 years in a county correctional facility for the nonpayment of a fine.

237:7 Enforcement of Fines; Balance of Payment. Amend RSA 618:8-10 to read as follows:

618:8 At End of Term, or on Payment of Balance. Any person sentenced conditionally to pay a fine or to be imprisoned for a term shall be discharged at the expiration of the term, and may be discharged at any time on payment of the balance of the fine, after deducting [$20] $50 for each day [he] such person has been imprisoned under the sentence.

618:9 Committal for Nonpayment; Term. Whenever a person is committed to a county correctional facility in default of payment of a fine imposed by a justice of a municipal court or a district court, he or she shall be discharged from custody by the superintendent thereof at the expiration of a number of days after the date of his or her commitment equal to one day for each [$20] $50 of the fine so imposed. The superintendent shall keep a record of all discharges made under the provisions of this section.

618:10 Petition for Discharge. Whenever a person under conviction for a criminal offense and confined in a county correctional facility is unable to pay the fine, the superior court, upon petition of the prisoner or the [county commissioners] superintendent and satisfactory proof of such inability, may order the prisoner to be discharged upon such terms as they may think proper.

237:8 Temporary Removal of Prisoners; Illness or Emergency. Amend RSA 623:1, I-II to read as follows:

I. Any person confined in a county department of corrections facility, state prison or other place of detention may, under necessary precautions, be taken by some regular or specially authorized officer from such place of detention to a medical facility for the purpose of receiving medical examination or treatment upon recommendation of a physician, a physician's assistant, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) and upon approval of the [administrator] superintendent of the institution in which the person is confined. In the case of a transfer of a pretrial prisoner for medical purposes for a period in excess of [24 hours] 10 days, the justice of the court who originally ordered the prisoner's commitment shall be given written notice of the transfer within [5] 15 days of said transfer, and shall be given notice upon the return of the prisoner within [5] 15 days of the prisoner's return, provided the prisoner is not in the custody of correctional personnel while at the medical facility. The provisions of RSA 402:79 shall apply to payments for medical care provided pursuant to this section.

II. Any person confined in a county department of corrections facility, state prison or other place of detention may be temporarily taken from his place of confinement because of the imminently approaching death or funeral of a member of his immediate family or for other imperative and extraordinary purpose, including treatment, counseling or rehabilitation programs, for a period not exceeding [48] 72 hours without approval by a justice of the superior court.

237:9 Employment of Offenders; Work Release. Amend RSA 30-B:20 to read as follows:

30-B:20 Work Release. [Any] A sentencing court may order that any person sentenced to imprisonment in a county department of corrections facility may be released therefrom by the superintendent with the approval of the sentencing court at the time of sentence, or at any time during the term of sentence[, by the court for such purpose as the court may deem conducive to his rehabilitation] based on the rules and regulations of the county correctional facility for such purposes as the superintendent may deem conducive to his or her rehabilitation. Such release shall be for such terms or intervals of time and under such terms and conditions as [the court may order the superintendent to impose] may be permitted by the facility's rules and regulations or as the court may order. Any part of a day spent in the free community under such a release order shall be counted as a full day toward the serving of the sentence unless otherwise provided by the sentencing court. [ If a person violates the terms and conditions laid down for his conduct, custody, or employment, the court may require that the balance of the person's sentence be spent in actual confinement and may cancel any earned reduction of his term. If the superintendent refuses to permit a person confined, who is otherwise eligible for a work release program, to participate in such program, that person shall have the right to petition the court for a hearing on the matter, and the decision of the court shall be conclusive.]

237:10 Motor Vehicles; Habitual Offenders. Amend RSA 262:23, I to read as follows:

I. It shall be unlawful for any person to drive any motor vehicle on the ways of this state while an order of the director or the court prohibiting such driving remains in effect. If any person found to be an habitual offender under the provisions of this chapter is convicted of driving a motor vehicle on the ways of this state while an order of the director or the court prohibiting such operation is in effect, he or she shall be guilty of a felony and sentenced, notwithstanding the provisions of RSA title LXII, to imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than 5 years. No portion of the minimum mandatory sentence shall be suspended, and no case brought to enforce this chapter shall be continued for sentencing; provided, however, that any sentence or part thereof imposed pursuant to this section may be suspended in cases in which the driving of a motor vehicle was necessitated by situations of apparent extreme emergency which required such operation to save life or limb. Any sentence of one year or less imposed pursuant to this paragraph shall be served in a county correctional facility [and the]. The sentencing court may order that any such offender may serve his or her sentence under home confinement pursuant to RSA 651:19 [on such terms and conditions as the court may order,] based on the rules and regulations of the county correctional facility where the sentence is to be served for the minimum mandatory term or any portion thereof, provided the offender first serves [8 consecutive weekends or] 14 consecutive days of imprisonment prior to eligibility for home confinement. Habitual offenders shall only be eligible for the home confinement [sentencing option] program once per lifetime. Any sentence of more than one year imposed pursuant to this paragraph shall be served in the state prison.

237:11 Sentence to County Correctional Facility; Year or Less. Amend RSA 651:17, II to read as follows:

II. The sentence shall be that the offender be confined to hard labor, for the term ordered by the court, in the county correctional facility[, except where otherwise expressly provided] of the county in which the crime was committed.

237:12 Discretionary Sentences; Release for Purpose of Gainful Employment. Amend RSA 651:19 to read as follows:

651:19 Release for Purpose of Gainful Employment, Rehabilitation or Home Confinement. [Any] A sentencing court may order any person who has been committed to a [penal] correctional institution other than state prison under a criminal sentence may be released therefrom [by the sentencing court at the time of sentence or at any time during the term of sentence,] for the purpose of obtaining and working at gainful employment, for the performance of uncompensated public service as provided in RSA 651:68-70, or to serve the sentence under home confinement, provided the [offender first serves 8 consecutive weekends or] correctional facility has a home confinement program. If the superintendent determines the person is inappropriate for such release, the court shall be notified and, at the request of the defendant, a hearing may be scheduled. In any case, the defendant shall first serve 14 consecutive days prior to eligibility for home confinement, or for such other purpose as the court may deem conducive to his or her rehabilitation, for such times or intervals of time and under such terms and conditions as the [court may order] rules and regulations of the correctional facility may allow or as the court may order. Any part of a day spent in the free community, or in home confinement, under such a release order shall be counted as a full day toward the serving of the sentence unless otherwise provided by the court. If a person violates the terms and conditions laid down for his or her conduct, custody and employment, he or she shall be returned to the [sentencing court] correctional facility. The [court] superintendent may then require that the balance of the person's sentence be spent in actual confinement [and may cancel any earned reduction of his or her term].

237:13 County Department of Corrections; Removal of Prisoners. Amend RSA 30-B:22 to read as follows:

30-B:22 Removal of Prisoners Because of Epidemic or Repairs to Facility. Whenever[, on account of] the prevalence of disease, or the rebuilding or repairing of a correctional facility or for other cause, the county commissioners shall think it expedient that the prisoners be removed therefrom, [any 2 justices of the superior court may order their removal] the county commissioners may authorize the superintendent to remove the prisoners to some other [correctional] facility in the same or another county location, there to be detained, in the same manner and by the same process as in the correctional facility from which they were so removed, until removed by similar process or discharged according to law.

237:14 Sentence to County Correctional Facility. Amend RSA 651:18 to read as follows:

651:18 Place; Reduction in Sentence.

I. Persons liable to commitment to a correctional facility for any offense [may] shall be committed to [any] the county correctional facility [at the discretion of the court. If the court sentences a person to a correctional facility in a county other than the county where the offense was committed, the expense of maintenance shall be paid by the county in which the offense was committed unless waived by the receiving county department of corrections in accordance with a reciprocal or other arrangement between the counties involved] in the county in which the crime was committed.

II. Any prisoner whose conduct while in the custody of the superintendent of a county correctional facility has been meritorious may be issued a permit and discharged by the superintendent of the county department of corrections when he has served 2/3 of his minimum sentence, provided it shall appear to the superintendent to be a reasonable probability that he will remain at liberty without violating the law and will conduct himself as a good citizen.

237:15 Repeal. The following are repealed:

I. RSA 30-B:14, relative to superintendent's bills.

II. RSA 30-B:24, relative to transfer of female prisoners.

III. RSA 651:23, relative to change of place of confinement.

237:16 Effective Date.

I. Sections 3 and 8 of this act shall take effect January 1, 2004 at 12:01 a.m.

II. Section 14 of this act shall take effect upon its passage.

III. The remainder of this act shall take effect January 1, 2004.

(Approved: July 7, 2003)

(Effective Date: I. Sections 3 and 8 shall take effect January 1, 2004 at 12:01 a.m.