HB217: relative to gender neutral references in court documents.

HB 217 – AS INTRODUCED

2009 SESSION

09-0675

05/09

HOUSE BILL 217

AN ACT relative to gender neutral references in court documents.

SPONSORS: Rep. Sapareto, Rock 5

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

ANALYSIS

This bill requires court documents used in divorce and child custody proceedings to be gender neutral and prohibits the judicial branch from expending additional funds in order to implement the change.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

09-0675

05/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine

AN ACT relative to gender neutral references in court documents.

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

1 New Section; Documents to Contain Gender Neutral Terms. Amend RSA 458 by inserting after section 52 the following new section:

458:53 Documents to Contain Gender Neutral Terms. Judges, marital masters, court clerks, and judicial branch employees shall use gender neutral terms and strike gender specific references in all documents, including forms, transcripts, and opinions, used by the courts in divorce and child custody proceedings.

2 Revenue Neutral. It is the intent of the general court that the gender neutral requirement in section 1 of this act be implemented without the expenditure or appropriation of additional funds for this purpose, but rather as a policy change to be implemented wherever practicable by the judicial branch in all future documents used by the courts in divorce and child custody proceedings.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.