HB291: establishing an enhanced penalty for assaults, sexual assaults, and related offenses against the elderly.

HB 291-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-0571

04/01

HOUSE BILL 291-FN

AN ACT establishing an enhanced penalty for assaults, sexual assaults, and related offenses against the elderly.

SPONSORS: Rep. P. Katsakiores, Rock 77; Rep. G. Katsakiores, Rock 77; Rep. Rausch, Rock 77; Rep. Bridle, Rock 85

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes an enhanced criminal penalty for assaults, sexual assaults, and related offenses against the elderly.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-0571

04/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT establishing an enhanced penalty for assaults, sexual assaults, and related offenses against the elderly.

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

1 New Paragraph; Extended Term of Imprisonment; Crimes Against the Elderly. Amend RSA 651:6, I by inserting after subparagraph (n) the following new subparagraph:

(o) Such person has committed or attempted to commit any of the crimes listed in RSA 631 or RSA 632-A against a person over 65 years of age.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.

LBAO

03-0571

1/10/03

HB 291-FN - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT establishing an enhanced penalty for assaults, sexual assaults, and related offenses against the elderly.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, and Association of Counties state this bill will increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY2004 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or local expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Judicial Branch states establishing an extended term of imprisonment for assault and sexual assault committed against a person over 65 years of age, would not result in significant costs to the judicial branch, based on the current level of prosecution of cases that would fall within its purview. In those cases prosecuted, the Branch estimates costs would increase due to increased trials due to the extended term of imprisonment.

The Judicial Council states that it can be determined that the enhanced penalty provision would impact the amount of time spent on cases by either the public defender or contract attorneys. It is likely that as a result of the increased time committed to the handling of these cases, that more cases may be assigned to assigned counsel attorneys. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 and the fee cap would most likely be exceeded. If a motion to exceed the fee cap is approved and/or "services other than counsel" are approved, these will be chargeable to the Indigent Defense Fund. The Council is unable to predict the number of cases that may be affected by this legislation, therefor, is unable to estimate the fiscal impact at this time.

The Department of Corrections estimates no more than three persons per year would have extended terms of imprisonment and extended terms would be for two years as a result of this change. Average cost of incarceration is $24,866 per inmate, per year. Assuming an average marginal cost of $8,000 per inmate, per year, and three inmates per year, additional costs are estimated at $24,000 annually.

LBAO

03-0571

1/10/03

Page 2

The Department of Justice states they seldom become involved in the prosecution of instances of assaults against elderly. If the Department was involved, the number of instances would be negligible and the cost of prosecution would not increase as a direct result of increased penalties.