HB581: repealing the controlled drug act and establishing a committee to study the policy and statutory changes necessary to implement the repeal.

HB 581-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2023 SESSION

23-0429

04/10

HOUSE BILL 581-FN

AN ACT repealing the controlled drug act and establishing a committee to study the policy and statutory changes necessary to implement the repeal.

SPONSORS: Rep. Santonastaso, Ches. 18

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill repeals the controlled drug act effective July 1, 2025, and establishes a committee to recommend legislation to make the necessary policy and statutory changes to accompany the repeal.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

23-0429

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three

AN ACT repealing the controlled drug act and establishing a committee to study the policy and statutory changes necessary to implement the repeal.

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

1 Repeal. RSA 318-B, relative to the controlled drug act, is repealed.

2 Committee Established.

I. There is established a committee to study the statutory and policy changes to state law necessary to implement the repeal of the controlled drug act in New Hampshire. The members of the committee shall be as follows:

(a) Four members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

(b) One member of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.

II. Members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee.

III. The committee shall study the statutory and policy changes to state law necessary to implement the repeal of the controlled drug act in New Hampshire. The committee may solicit testimony from any individual or organization that has information or expertise related to the committee's objective.

IV. The members of the study committee shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the committee shall be called by the first-named house member. The first meeting of the committee shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section. Four members of the committee shall constitute a quorum.

V. The committee shall report its findings and make recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before September 1, 2024.

3 Effective Date.

I. Section 1 of this act shall take effect July 1, 2025.

II. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.

LBA

23-0429

1/9/23

HB 581-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT repealing the controlled drug act and establishing a committee to study the policy and statutory changes necessary to implement the repeal.

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

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2023

FY 2024

FY 2025

FY 2026

Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

Indeterminable Decrease

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

$0

$0

$0

Indeterminable

Funding Source:

[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ X ] Other - Drug forfeiture funds

COUNTY:

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

$0

$0

$0

Indeterminable

LOCAL:

Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

Expenditures

$0

$0

$0

Indeterminable

The Department of Health and Human Services was contacted for a fiscal note worksheet on December 30, 2022, which they have not provided as of January 9, 2023.

METHODOLOGY:

This bill repeals the controlled drug act effective July 1, 2025, and establishes a committee to study statutory changes needed to implement said repeal. The Department of Justice notes that, among other things, the repeal of RSA 318-B will freeze drug forfeiture funds which will disallow yearly payments to the Police Standards and Training Council, as well as allocations to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice Drug Task Force, and local police department for certain drug interdiction efforts. The Department also notes that it has a dedicated drug unit to enforce the state's drug laws; because the premise of the bill is that the newly-established study committee will recommend possible replacement statutes prior to the repeal of the existing statutes in 2025, the fiscal impact on the drug unit and the Department overall is unknown.

The New Hampshire Municipal Association states that it is unable to quantify the bill's impact on local law enforcement costs.

Because RSA 318-B contains many criminal penalties, its repeal may impact the New Hampshire judicial and correctional systems. There is no method to determine how many fewer charges would be brought as a result of the bill. However, the entities impacted have provided the potential costs associated with these penalties below.

Judicial Branch

FY 2023

FY 2024 through 12/31/23

FY 2024

(Starting 1/1/24 with repeal

of Felonies First)

Violation and Misdemeanor Level Offense

$119

$122

$122

Complex Felony Case

$3,195

$3,244

$3,366

Routine Criminal Case

$644

$657

$779

Appeals

Varies

Varies

Varies

Judicial Council

FY 2023

FY 2024

Public Defender Program

Has contract with State to provide services.

Has contract with State to provide services.

Contract Attorney - Felony

$825/Case

$105 administrative fee

$200 incarceration fee

(If applicable)

$825/Case

$105 administrative fee

$200 incarceration fee

(If applicable)

Contract Attorney – Misdemeanor

$300/Case

$70 administrative fee

$100 incarceration fee

(If applicable)

$300/Case

$70 administrative fee

$100 incarceration fee

(If applicable)

Assigned Counsel - Felony.

Homicide including capital cases. Travel time to court does not count toward the cap.

$125/Hour up to $20,000

$125/Hour up to $20,000

Assigned Counsel - Felony. Travel time to court does not count toward the cap.

$90/Hour up to $5,500

$90/Hour up to $5,500

Assigned Counsel- Misdemeanor. Travel time to court does not count toward the cap.

$90/Hour up to $2,000

$90/Hour up to $2,000

Assigned Counsel - Supreme Court Appeal

$125/Hour up to $10,000

$125/Hour up to $10,000

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. Historically, approximately 85% of the indigent defense caseload has been handled by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned counsel (1%). Beginning in March of 2021, the public defender program has had to close intake of new cases due to excessive caseloads. Due to these closures, the contract and assigned counsel program have had to absorb significantly more cases. The system is experiencing significant delays in appointing counsel and the costs of representation have increased due to travel time and multiple appointments.

Department of Corrections

FY 2023

FY 2024

FY 2022 Average Cost of Incarcerating an Individual

$64,223

$64,223

FY 2022 Annual Marginal Cost of a General Population Inmate

$6,123

$6,123

FY 2022 Average Cost of Supervising an Individual on Parole/Probation

$688

$688

The Department notes any increase in the incarcerated population will have a direct impact on overtime costs given the Department’s history of challenges associated with recruitment. In addition, the NH State Prison for Men has a degrading infrastructure which will only be exacerbated if an increase in the incarcerated population were to occur.

NH Association of Counties

FY 2023

FY 2024

County Prosecution Costs

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

Estimated Average Daily Cost of Incarcerating an Individual

$105 to $125

$105 to $125

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 may be able to absorb the cost within its existing budget. However, if the Department needs to prosecute significantly more cases or handle more appeals, then costs will increase by an indeterminable amount.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch, Departments of Corrections, Justice, and Health and Human Services, Judicial Council, New Hampshire Association of Counties, and New Hampshire Municipal Association