HB337: relative to state funding of county correctional facilities.

HB 337-FN-A-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-0173

04/09

HOUSE BILL 337-FN-A-LOCAL

AN ACT relative to state funding of county correctional facilities.

SPONSORS: Rep. Cloutier, Sull 22; Rep. J. Pratt, Ches 24; Rep. Gorman, Hills 62; Rep. Milligan, Hills 58; Rep. Jacobson, Merr 32; Sen. Odell, Dist 8

COMMITTEE: Finance

ANALYSIS

This bill requires the state to annually reimburse counties for 50 percent of the expense of incarcerating inmates sentenced to county correctional facilities.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-0173

04/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT relative to state funding of county correctional facilities.

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

1 County Department of Corrections; State Share of Expenses. Amend RSA 30-B:1 to read as follows:

30-B:1 County Department of Corrections.

I. Each county shall provide, keep, and maintain facilities, administered by a county department of corrections, for the reception and confinement of prisoners committed to or ordered to be detained at a county correctional facility.

II. The state shall annually reimburse the superintendent of each county department of corrections for 50 percent of the expense of incarcerating inmates sentenced to county correctional facilities, less any income from sources other than wages or salaries earned by inmates and used to offset the costs of incarceration under RSA 30-B:19, II.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.

LBAO

03-0173

1/14/03

HB 337-FN-A - LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to state funding of county correctional facilities.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The NH Association of Counties stated this bill will increase state expenditures by $8,100,000 in FY 2004 and in each year thereafter. County revenue will increase by $8,119,000 in FY 2004 and in each year thereafter. The Department of Corrections indicated this bill will increase state expenditures and county revenue by $16,160,385 in FY 2004 and in each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state and local revenue or county and local expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The NH Association of Counties indicated the county correctional facilities had combined expenditures of approximately $32,476,000 in FY 2001. Approximately 50% of this total, or $16,238,000, is attributable to sentenced inmates and half of this amount, $8,119,000 the state would pay the counties.

The Department of Corrections sited the 2002-2004 "National Jail and Adult Detention Directory" from the American Correctional Association. The directory provided a budget of $25,856,616 for 8 jail facilities. From this information, the Department derived a cost estimate for New Hampshire's ten county facilities at $32,320,770. The state's reimbursement on 50% would be $16,160,385 per year.