HB 1246-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2006 SESSION
09/04
HOUSE BILL 1246-FN
AN ACT relative to assault on law enforcement, corrections, and probation-parole officers.
SPONSORS: Rep. Dumaine, Rock 3
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill establishes criminal penalties for assault on law enforcement, corrections, and probation-parole officers.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06-2974
09/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT relative to assault on law enforcement, corrections, and probation-parole officers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Assault on Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Probation-Parole Officers. Amend RSA 631 by inserting after section 2-a the following new section:
631:2-b Assault on Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Probation-Parole Officers.
I. A person is guilty of an assault on a law enforcement officer, corrections officer, or probation-parole officer, if he or she purposely and knowingly causes bodily injury to any of these officers while such officer is in the performance of his or her duties. Any person convicted under this paragraph shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
II. Any person convicted under this section of a subsequent offense during a period of one year from the date of his or her conviction under paragraph I, shall be guilty of a class B felony.
III. Any person convicted under this section of a third offense during a period of 3 years from the date of his or her subsequent conviction under paragraph II, shall be guilty of a class A felony.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2007.
LBAO
06-2974
11/17/05
HB 1246-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to assault on law enforcement, corrections, and probation-parole officers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, Association of Counties, and Department of Corrections state this bill may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2007 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill would add to the assault statute a new crime of assault on law enforcement, corrections, and probation-parole officers. A first offense would be a Class A misdemeanor, a second offense within a year would be a Class B felony, and a third offense within three years of the second would be a Class A felony. The simple assault and resisting arrest cases at the Superior Court are either misdemeanor appeals or lesser include offenses of felony charges. The addition of this new crime should not have a significant impact on those proceedings. The impact in the District Court, however, is likely to be above $10,000. Many simple assault and resisting arrest cases are currently charged as Class B misdemeanors. To the extent those cases are charged under the proposed RSA 631:2-b, they become Class A misdemeanors. The recently completed New Hampshire Judicial Needs Assessment, prepared by the National Center for State Courts, estimates the difference in case weight between a Class B and Class A misdemeanor is 8.8 minutes. The Branch estimates the cost of additional judge time per Class A misdemeanor over a Class B misdemeanor at $13.57, thus for each 1,000 of the almost 10,000 simple assault and resisting arrest charges in the district courts that are brought as Class A misdemeanor assaults, the fiscal impact to the branch would total $13,570. A felony offense is more costly to process than a misdemeanor. Felony offenses can involve arraignment, bail, and probable cause hearings in the District Court, numerous hearings and a jury trial in the Superior Court, and an appeal to the Supreme Court. The Branch is unable to determine how many cases will result from this bill, and therefore are unable to determine the exact fiscal impact at this time.
The Judicial Council assumes that any cases arising from the enactment of this bill for which the Indigent Defense Fund may be liable will, in the first instance, be handled by the public defender or contract attorney who accepts these cases on a fixed fee basis of $275 per misdemeanor or $756.25 per felony charged. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 with a fee cap of $1,000 for a misdemeanor or $3,000 for a felony 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. Any charge within the criminal justice system, committed by a juvenile, will be compensated within the flat fee contract system of $275 per case through disposition, plus $206.25 for each and every review hearing following disposition. Assigned counsel will be at the $60 per hour rate with a fee cap of $1,200. The fee cap may be waived upon motion filed with the court and approved in advance. Any case where a defendant has been found guilty may also result in appeals to either the Superior Court or to the Supreme Court which would have a cost implication for Indigent Defense expenditures made by the State. The Council is unable to predict the number of cases which may result from the passage of this bill, and are unable to determine the exact fiscal impact at this time.
The Department of Corrections states the number of individuals sentenced under this legislation cannot be predicted. The average cost of incarcerating an individual in the general prison population for FY 2005 was $28,143.
The Association of Counties states this bill to the extent individuals are prosecuted, the county may incur the cost of pre-trial detainment at the county department of Corrections, as well as the cost of sentenced inmates under the new law. The average annual cost for counties to incarcerate inmates is $21,633.55, however the total exposure to counties would be determined by the number of individuals convicted and sentenced under the new law, which cannot be determined at this time.
The Department of Justice states this bill will have no fiscal impact on their department.