SB 503 - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2885
12/10
SENATE BILL 503
AN ACT relative to requiring a criminal background check when applying for a fish and game guide license.
SPONSORS: Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17; Rep. Spillane, Rock. 2
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires a criminal background check when applying for a fish and game guide license.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2885
12/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to requiring a criminal background check when applying for a fish and game guide license.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Fish and Game Guide Applications. Amend RSA 215:2 to read as follows:
Application for a license shall be made to the executive director, or [to some person designated by him.] their designee. The executive director shall prescribe rules and regulations under which such licenses shall be issued.
2 New Paragraphs; Fish and Game Guide License Applications; Criminal Background Check. Amend RSA 215:2 by inserting after the Introductory Paragraph the following new paragraphs:
I. Every applicant shall submit to the fish and game department a criminal history record release form, as provided by the New Hampshire division of state police, which authorizes the release of any criminal history record to the department.
II. The applicant shall submit with the release form a complete set of fingerprints taken by a qualified law enforcement agency or an authorized employee of the department of safety. In the event that the first set of fingerprints is invalid due to insufficient pattern, a second set of fingerprints shall be necessary in order to complete the criminal history records check. If, after 2 attempts, a set of fingerprints is invalid due to insufficient pattern, the department may, in lieu of the criminal history records check, accept police clearances from every city, town, or county where the person has lived during the past 5 years.
III. The department shall submit the criminal history records release form and fingerprint form to the division of state police which shall conduct a criminal history records check through its records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon completion of the records check, the division of state police shall release copies of the criminal history records to the department.
IV. The chief of the fish and game law enforcement division or their designee shall review the criminal record information prior to making a registration decision and shall maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history records received pursuant to this section.
V. The applicant shall bear the cost of a criminal history record check.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.