State of New Hampshire Revised Statutes Online
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What are Sections Affected?

Each year new laws are passed which amend current sections in the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated (RSAs), insert new sections, reenact sections or repeal sections. The printed and online versions of the RSAs do not reflect these changes until late in the fall of each year. In the case of the printed version, new cumulative pocket parts are issued and the online version is updated.

In order to determine the current law before the changes are made to the RSAs, the Sections Affected should be used.

The Sections Affected provides a list of all the changes made to the Revised Statutes by the laws passed in the current year. It is arranged by RSA Chapter number. To determine if a chapter has been changed, there are several search options.

SEARCH

1. Click on the down arrow in the Search by RSA box, and a dropdown box will display all the RSAs affected by the laws passed in the current year. Scroll down to the Chapter and Section that needs to be updated and click on it and then click on Search.

If the RSA Chapter or section do not appear, then it was not affected by the laws passed to date.

In addition to searching by RSA Chapter, Sections Affected can also be searched by Session Law Chapters, Private Acts and Bill Numbers. All of these, have dropdown menus which list all the respective items. Scroll down to the one of interest , click on it., and then click on Search.

Note: Only one type of search can be performed at a time. You cannot combine searches. Select only one box.

Chapter - As laws are passed they are given a Chapter number. The first law passed is assigned 1, the next one 2 and so forth. These chapter numbers have no relationship to the RSA chapter numbers. They are used to refer to a law passed in a specific year (e.g. Chapter 2 of the Laws of 2000) By clicking on a chapter, and then clicking Search, all the RSA Chapters and sections affected by the Chapter law will display.

Private Act - Laws that do not affect any sections of the RSAs are called private acts. Often they affect only a specific town or organization. By clicking on Private Acts, and then clicking on Search, all the Private Acts will display.

Bill Number - By clicking on the bill number that became law, and then clicking on Search, all the RSA Chapters and Sections affected by the bill number which has become law will display.

DISPLAY

The display for all the searches will be the same. The following columns of information will be provided:

 

RSA Chapter:	The chapter of the RSA affected by the law.
RSA Section:	The Section of the RSA Chapter affected by the law.
Chapter Law:	The law affecting the RSA Chapter and Section.
Chapter Section:	The section of that law affecting the RSA Chapter and Section.
How Affected:	How the RSA Chapter and Section was affected (Amend, Repeal, Insert or Reenact) Note; Reenact means that because there were so many changes in the section, the RSA Chapter and Section were repealed and then reenacted to reflect all the changes.
Bill Number:	The original bill that was introduced and passed to become law.
	Note: By clicking on the bill number, the full text of the Chapter law will display.
Private Act:	Indicates whether or not the Chapter Law was a Private Act.