HB 1566-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2014 SESSION
04/08
HOUSE BILL 1566-FN
AN ACT relative to warrant requirements.
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill provides that devices that enhance or extend the human senses shall not be used by a government official without obtaining a warrant or without fulfilling a legally-recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14-2464
04/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to warrant requirements.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Search Warrants. Amend RSA 595-A by inserting after section 2 the following new section:
595-A:2-a Use of Sensory-Enhancing Devices.
I. Wherever a person has an expectation of privacy, including without limitation, in a residence and its curtilage, no device that enhances or extends the human senses, including but not limited to trained canines, infrared imaging, cone microphones, telephoto lenses, or drone-based imaging, shall be used in this state by:
(a) An individual; or
(b) A federal, state, or local government official, or a person acting on such official’s behalf, unless such official or person has first obtained a warrant signed by a judge and based on probable cause, or without a legally-recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
II. In cases where a person does not have an expectation of privacy, no information collected by such a device shall be retained by a federal, state, or local government official unless it is a necessary component in an ongoing criminal investigation of such person.
III. This section shall not apply to federal government officials to the extent that federal law preempts state law.
IV. A government official or a person acting on such official’s behalf who purposely violates this chapter shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. An individual who is injured as a result of a violation of this chapter may file a civil action against an individual or government official, or a person acting on behalf of a government.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
LBAO
14-2464
12/12/13
HB 1566-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to warrant requirements.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Department of Justice and New Hampshire Association of Counties state this bill, as introduced, may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2015 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures, or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill adds RSA 595-A:2-a to require that a warrant issued by a judge is necessary for use in a residence or its curtilage of a device that enhances or extends the human senses. This bill also provides for the potential of class A misdemeanors and civil damages. This bill could result in additional warrant requests, additional class A misdemeanors and additional civil damage actions, however the Branch has no information to estimate the additional activity. A warrant request in the district division of the circuit court is classified as the same level case as a class A misdemeanor. The Branch estimates a class A misdemeanor will cost $66.17 per case in FY 2015 and $67.64 per case in FY 2016 and each year. A warrant request in the superior court is classified as a simple criminal case which will cost $256.30 in FY 2015 and $261.84 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. The Branch states the civil actions resulting from this bill would be processed as average complex civil cases, which will cost $686.96 in FY 2015 and $699.09 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. All costs are estimated based on case weight information from the last needs assessment completed in 2005. Since that timeframe there have been various changes that may impact the costs, such as the creation of the circuit court, the increase in self-represented litigants, and the change to presume that an unspecified misdemeanor can be treated as a class B misdemeanor.
The Department of Justice states this will bill cause an indeterminable increase in state expenditures. The Department states its Public Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes criminal conduct by government officials undertaken in their official capacity. The Department assumes law enforcement officials would not use sensory-enhancing devices in violation of the statute, however the Department would investigate and, if necessary, prosecute any officers in violation of this law. The Department would defend and indemnify a state law enforcement official who faces civil actions pursuant to this statute. The Department is not able to determine how many if any cases it would be involved with as a result of this bill to predict the fiscal impact.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states to the extent individuals are charged, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration in a county correctional facility, the counties will have expenditures. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who may be charged, convicted or incarcerated as a result of this bill to determine an exact fiscal impact. The average annual cost to incarcerate an individual in a county correctional facility is approximately $35,000. There is no impact on county revenue.
The Judicial Council states that anyone prosecuted under this proposed law would be a government official acting in his or her official capacity. In the event of criminal prosecution, the government official would be defended and indemnified by his or her employer, and would not seek the assistance of appointed counsel. The Council states this bill will not have a fiscal impact on the indigent defense delivery system.