HB134: reducing the penalty for certain first offense drug possession charges.

HB 134-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2019 SESSION

19-0054

04/10

HOUSE BILL 134-FN

AN ACT reducing the penalty for certain first offense drug possession charges.

SPONSORS: Rep. Seaworth, Merr. 20

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill reduces the penalty for certain first offense drug possession charges.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

19-0054

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen

AN ACT reducing the penalty for certain first offense drug possession charges.

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

1 First Offense Drug Charges; Penalties. RSA 318-B:26, II(a) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

(a) In the case of a controlled drug or its analog, other than those specifically covered in this section, the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, except that any person who commits any such violation after one or more prior offenses as defined in RSA 318-B:27 may be sentenced to a felony or misdemeanor at the discretion of the sentencing court.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.

LBAO

19-0054

11/7/18

HB 134-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT reducing the penalty for certain first offense drug possession charges.

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

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2020

FY 2021

FY 2022

FY 2023

Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

$0

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

Indeterminable Decrease

Indeterminable Decrease

Indeterminable Decrease

Indeterminable Decrease

Funding Source:

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

COUNTY:

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

$0

$0

$0

$0

METHODOLOGY:

This bill reduces the penalty for certain first offense drug possession charges from a class B felony to an unspecified misdemeanor. This may have an impact on the New Hampshire judicial and correctional systems. There is no method to determine how many charges would be brought as a result of the changes contained in this bill to determine the fiscal impact on expenditures. However, the entities impacted have provided the potential costs associated with these penalties below.

Judicial Branch

FY 2020

FY 2021

Class B Misdemeanor

$53

$54

Class A Misdemeanor

$76

$77

Routine Criminal Felony Case

$481

$486

Appeals

Varies

Varies

It should be noted that average case cost estimates for FY 2020 and FY 2021 are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types. An unspecified misdemeanor can be either class A or class B, with the presumption being a class B misdemeanor.

Judicial Council

Public Defender Program

Has contract with State to provide services.

Has contract with State to provide services.

Contract Attorney – Felony

$825/Case

$825/Case

Contract Attorney – Misdemeanor

$300/Case

$300/Case

Assigned Counsel – Felony

$60/Hour up to $4,100

$60/Hour up to $4,100

Assigned Counsel – Misdemeanor

$60/Hour up to $1,400

$60/Hour up to $1,400

It should be noted that a person needs to be found indigent and have the potential of being incarcerated to be eligible for indigent defense services. The majority of indigent cases (approximately 85%) are handled by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned counsel (1%).

Department of Corrections

FY 2017 Average Cost of Incarcerating an Individual

$40,615

$40,615

FY 2017 Annual Marginal Cost of a General Population Inmate

$4,620

$4,620

FY 2017 Average Cost of Supervising an Individual on Parole/Probation

$571

$571

NH Association of Counties

County Prosecution Costs

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

Estimated Average Daily Cost of Incarcerating an Individual

$105 to $120

$105 to $120

The Department of Corrections indicates, over the past year, there have been between 535 and 600 individuals serving active sentences under RSA 318-B. The Department assumes there may be a reduction in the population incarcerated under RSA 318-B if the class B felony is reduced to a misdemeanor, however the amount of reduction is indeterminable.

Many offenses are prosecuted by local and county prosecutors. When the Department of Justice has investigative and prosecutorial responsibility or is involved in an appeal, the Department would likely absorb the cost within its existing budget. If the Department needs to prosecute significantly more cases or handle more appeals, then costs may increase by an indeterminable amount.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, and Departments of Justice and Corrections