HB1717: requiring a jury trial before the municipality transfers certain property.

HB 1717-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2018 SESSION

18-2521

06/10

HOUSE BILL 1717-FN

AN ACT requiring a jury trial before the municipality transfers certain property.

SPONSORS: Rep. Marple, Merr. 24; Rep. Comeau, Carr. 5; Rep. McGuire, Merr. 29; Rep. Howard, Belk. 8; Rep. Itse, Rock. 10

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

ANALYSIS

This bill requires a municipality to obtain a court order, after a trial by jury, before it can transfer abandoned private property.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

18-2521

06/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eighteen

AN ACT requiring a jury trial before the municipality transfers certain property.

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

1 Statement of Purpose. The general court finds that municipalities are ignoring and omitting the due process mandated by article 20 of the first part of the New Hampshire constitution which requires a jury trial for all matters concerning property valued in excess of $1,500.

2 New Section; Powers and Duties of Towns; Right to Trial by Jury. Amend RSA 31 by inserting after section 1 the following new section:

31:1-a Private Property; Right to Trial by Jury.

I. No municipality may exercise any document purporting to transfer private property valued in excess of $1,500 to the benefit of the municipality without first receiving an order from a qualified jury.

II. Abandoned property valued in excess of $1,500 shall be listed on the state treasurer's abandoned property list and published as such for a period of 5 years, at which time, if no claim is made, the municipality may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to quiet title and convey the property by a quitclaim deed to the municipality.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2019.

LBAO

18-2521

11/15/17

HB 1717-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT requiring a jury trial before the municipality transfers certain property.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2019

FY 2020

FY 2021

FY 2022

Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

$0

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Funding Source:

[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other

LOCAL:

Revenue

Indeterminable Decrease

Indeterminable Decrease

Indeterminable Decrease

Indeterminable Decrease

Expenditures

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

METHODOLOGY:

This bill prohibits municipalities from exercising any document transferring private property valued in excess of $1,500 to the benefit of the municipality without first receiving an order from a qualified jury. It also requires abandoned property valued in excess of $1,500 to be listed on the State Treasurer's abandoned property list and published for a period of 5 years, and if no claim is made, the municipality may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to quiet title and convey the property by quitclaim deed to the municipality.

The Judicial Branch is unable to estimate the number of jury trials resulting from this legislation or the number of trial days that may be needed, but the Branch estimated the average daily cost of such trials at $2,163.13 for FY 2019 and at $2,177.38 for FY 2020. This estimate is based on the cost of a full day (7.5 hours) jury trial in superior court, using salary figures applicable in FY 2019 and FY 2020. The estimate does not include the cost of preliminary hearings, time to write a charge to the jury, and for clerical processing, which would bring the cost of a jury trial well over $2,000 per day. A single appeal of a decision could involve several thousand dollars of additional costs for a single jury trial in excess of $10,000.

FY 2019

FY 2020

Judge

$1,105.13

$ 1,109.85

Jury

$ 280.00

$ 280.00

Jury Mileage

$ 84.00

$ 84.00

Court Monitor

$ 233.10

$ 237.90

Deputy Clerk

$ 353.25

$ 357.98

Bailiff

$ 107.65

$ 107.65

TOTAL

$2,163.13

$ 2,177.38

The Treasury indicates the expenditures and revenues of the Treasury would not increase based on the number of private properties to be added to the annual abandoned property publication.

The New Hampshire Municipal Association is unable to provide an estimate of the fiscal impact.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch, Treasury Department, and New Hampshire Municipal Association