HB 890-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
04/10
HOUSE BILL 890-FN
AN ACT relative to sentencing of persons convicted of Internet solicitation of a minor.
SPONSORS: Rep. Baldasaro, Rock 3; Rep. Crane, Hills 21; Rep. Headd, Rock 3; Rep. Carson, Rock 3; Rep. Garcia, Rock 4; Sen. Kenney, Dist 3
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill provides that aggravated felonious sexual assault, felonious sexual assault, or sexual assault committed against a minor where the minor was solicited by the offender via the Internet shall not be subject to plea bargaining or other agreement which would reduce the penalty for the offense.
The bill also requires law enforcement agencies to provide a log book to be signed and dated by persons required to report.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07-0990
04/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to sentencing of persons convicted of Internet solicitation of a minor.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Sexual Assault and Related Offenses; Plea Bargaining. Amend RSA 632-A by inserting after section 10-c the following new section:
632-A:10-d Plea Bargaining.
I. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if a person is charged with a violation of RSA 632-A:2, RSA 632-A:3, RSA 632-A:4 against a minor under 16 years of age at the time the offense was committed and where the minor was solicited by the offender via the Internet, no prosecutor shall enter into any agreement with such offender or such offender’s attorney if such agreement would result in a charge that removed the case from consideration under any provision of RSA 632-A, RSA 651:6, or RSA 651-B. The provisions of this paragraph, however, shall not prevent the bringing of any charge under any other applicable provision of law.
II. Any offender convicted under this section shall, as part of the sentence, participate in any sexual offender rehabilitation or treatment program available at the correctional facility in which the offender is sentenced. The warden or other official in charge of a correctional facility shall determine the frequency of an offender’s participation in such programs.
2 New Subparagraph; Registration of Criminal Offenders; Duty to Report. Amend RSA 651-B:4, I by inserting after subparagraph (b) the following new subparagraph:
(c) All law enforcement agencies shall provide and maintain a log book which shall be signed and dated by the person required to report under this section and by the law enforcement official who has contact with such person.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2008.
LBAO
07-0990
Revised 03/22/07
HB 890 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to sentencing of persons convicted of Internet solicitation of a minor.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Justice, Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, and Department of Corrections state this bill may increase state general fund expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. The Association of Counties has determined this bill may decrease county expenditures in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Justice states this bill prevents prosecutors from entering into a charge bargain with any defendant charged with various sexual assault crimes. This bill could potentially reduce the number of cases resolved by plea bargaining, however the Department cannot estimate how many additional trials would result. Passage of this bill would have a negligible impact on the prosecutorial responsibilities of the Department. The Department rarely prosecutes these types of cases as they are typically prosecuted by county attorneys.
The Judicial Branch states this bill regulates plea bargaining in certain felonious sexual assault cases. The Branch calculates the judicial, clerical, jury and bailiff costs of a sexual assault felony at $670 per charge using current salary levels. The cost of a full day’s jury trial in the superior court is calculated at $1,693 or $226 per hour based on current salary levels. In the event that this bill results in more trials this would increase state expenditures. However, the Branch is unable to predict the bill’s impact on the number of prosecutions and therefore cannot determine the fiscal impact on expenditures.
The Judicial Council states this bill prevents prosecutors from charge bargaining in certain felonious sexual assault cases and assumes this will result in more criminal trials. The Council assumes that any cases arising from felonious sexual assault charges, for which the Indigent Defense Fund may be liable, will in the first instance be handled by the public defender or a contract attorney on a fixed fee basis of $2,283 per felony charge. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 with a fee cap of $3,000 per 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. It is in these sexual assault crimes that the fee cap is most often waived. Any case where a defendant has been found guilty may also result in appeals 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 that may result from the passage of this bill, and is unable to determine the exact fiscal impact at this time.
The Department of Corrections states it is not able to determine this bill’s impact on the number of individuals that will be convicted of felonious sexual assault or the length of sentence they will receive. The average annual cost of incarcerating an individual in the general population is $31,140 and the cost to supervise an offender by the Department’s Division of Field Services is $1,174 based on the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006.
The Association of Counties states the number of individuals who might be sentenced to the state prison instead of the county facility as a result of prohibiting plea bargaining in certain sexual assault crimes cannot be determined. To the extend that fewer individuals are sentenced to county facilities, county expenditures will decrease. The average annual cost to counties to incarcerate an individual is $22,889.