HB 576-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 576-FN
AN ACT relative to the right to brandish a firearm in defense of one’s property.
SPONSORS: Rep. Panek, Straf 3; Rep. Notter, Hills 19; Rep. Ball, Hills 9
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill permits a person to use deadly force upon another in defense of one’s property. The bill also permits a person to display a firearm to warn away a threat to one’s 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0446
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT relative to the right to brandish a firearm in defense of one’s property.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Use of Force in Property Offenses. Amend RSA 627:8 to read as follows:
627:8 Use of Force in Property Offenses. A person is justified in using deadly force upon another when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes it necessary to prevent what is or reasonably appears to be an unlawful taking of [his] one’s property, or criminal mischief, or to retake [his] one’s property immediately following its taking[; but he may use deadly force under such circumstances only in defense of a person as prescribed in RSA 627:4].
2 Assault and Related Offenses; Criminal Threatening. Amend RSA 631:4, IV to read as follows:
IV. A person who responds to a threat which would be considered by a reasonable person as likely to result in the theft of one’s property, or cause serious bodily injury or death to the person or to another by displaying a firearm or other means of [self-defense] defense with the intent to warn away the person making the threat shall not have committed a criminal act under this section.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2012.
LBAO
11-0446
01/11/11
HB 576-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to the right to brandish a firearm in defense of one’s property.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, the Judicial Council, the Department of Corrections and the New Hampshire Association of Counties state this bill may decrease state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2012 and each year thereafter. The Department of Justice states this bill may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2012 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures or county and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill will amend RSA 627:8 to permit a person to use deadly force upon another in defense of one’s property and permits a person to display a firearm to warn away a threat to one’s property. The Branch has no information to estimate how many criminal charges will not be brought pursuant to the proposed legislation to determine the fiscal impact on state expenditures. The Branch does however note the average cost of a complex case in the superior court would be $753.36 in FY 2012 and $759.71 in FY 2013 while the average cost of a routine criminal case in the superior court would be $394.13 in FY 2012 and $399.33 in FY 2013. The Branch states if one case which would have resulted in a trial in the superior court and an appeal to the Supreme Court is not brought as a result of the proposed legislation; state expenditures will decrease in excess of $10,000.
The Department of Justice states expanding the types of circumstances under which the use of deadly force against another is permissible creates the potential that New Hampshire residents will resort to the use of deadly force when they otherwise would have used non-deadly force to protect their property. Subsequently, this could result in an increase in homicides. The Department states they would be responsible for overseeing the investigation of any such homicide and if it was determined the use of deadly force was not justified under the circumstances, the ensuing prosecution. The Department notes the ensuing fiscal impact of the investigations and prosecutions that result from the proposed legislation may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount.
The Judicial Council states this bill may result in fewer criminal charges being brought thereby resulting in a potential reduction in state expenditures for representation not provided for crimes that would no longer be chargeable under the proposed legislation.
The Department of Corrections states it is not able to determine the fiscal impact of this bill because it does not have sufficient detail to predict the number of individuals who would use deadly force as allowed in this bill and would no longer be incarcerated. However, the Department notes the average annual cost to incarcerate an individual in the general prison population in SFY 2010 was $32,492. The Department also notes the cost to the Division of Field Services to supervise an offender for SFY 2010 was $659. The Department states that state expenditures would be reduced to the extent that individuals who would otherwise have been incarcerated were not incarcerated as a result of the proposed legislation.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states to the extent individuals are not prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration, as a result of the proposed legislation, the counties expenditures may decrease. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who might not be detained, prosecuted or incarcerated as a result of this bill. The average annual cost to incarcerate an individual in a county correctional facility is approximately $35,000.