HB 1623-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2006 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 1623-FN
AN ACT relative to harm or threats to public officials.
SPONSORS: Rep. Shurtleff, Merr 10
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill makes it a class A felony to exert improper influence on any public servant, past or present governor, executive councilor, or marital master.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06-2798
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT relative to harm or threats to public officials.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Corrupt Practices; Improper Influence. Amend RSA 640:3 by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:
I-a. A person is guilty of a class A felony if such person, for the purpose of influencing an official action or in retaliation for any official action taken, harms, threatens to harm, acts with a purpose to alarm or harass, or commits or threatens to commit any crime against a public servant, past or present governor, executive councilor, marital master, or any member of their families.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2007.
LBAO
06-2798
12/1/05
HB 1623-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to harm or threats to public officials.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, and Departments of Justice and Corrections have determined this bill may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2007 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or on state, county and local revenues.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill intends to establish a new class A felony for harm or threatened harm to a public servant for the purpose of influencing official action or retaliating for official action taken. The Branch indicated the estimated cost of an average class A felony case is $296.88 in the trial court. That is $110.27 in judicial time, $130.26 in clerical time, $47.60 to account for the cost of the jury, and $8.75 to account for the cost of a bailiff. At that rate, if this bill resulted in 34 additional cases, the judicial branch would have a fiscal impact in excess of $10,000. These numbers do no consider the cost any appeals that may be taken following trial. The Branch does not anticipate that this bill will result in a sufficient volume of cases to cause a fiscal impact in excess of $10,000. The fiscal impact is based on recently completed judicial clerical needs assessments which are based on averages. Regarding this bill, any case is likely to be of great public interest and to be hard-fought. Thus, despite the averages, even one case of sufficient length and complexity, resulting a trial and appeal, can cause a fiscal impact to the judicial branch in excess of $10,000.
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 $756.25 per felony charged. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 with a fee cap of $3,000 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
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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 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 Justice stated they would become involved in prosecuting cases of this type if it involved a threat to a present or past governor, an executive councilor, or a judge. The Department further stated it is difficult to predict how often these cases would arise; however, it is unlikely the Department would prosecute more than one per year. The Department estimates each prosecution would likely involve 40 hours of an investigators time, 160 hours of attorney time, and 15 hours of a legal secretary’s time and cost approximately $10,000.
The Department of Corrections stated the number of individuals who would be guilty of a class A felony under this bill cannot be predicted, however; the average annual cost of incarcerating an individual in the general prison population for FY 2005 was $28,143.