The New Hampshire House of Representatives Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety met in a series executive sessions on Friday. Here’s a recap of their actions.
This bill repeals police standards and training council physical fitness requirements as well as penalties for not meeting those requirements.
Jennifer Rhodes (R-Winchester) made a motion to retain the bill for further study, aiming to get additional feedback from any potential stakeholders. The motion was adopted by a 19-1 vote, with only Jonah Wheeler (D-Peterborough) voting in opposition.
Bob Lynn (R-Windham) and Julie Brennan (D-Bow) filled in for John Sytek (R-Salem) and Loren Selig (D-Durham) respectively on this vote and the rest of the votes throughout the day.
Online testimony as of Friday included 15 people supporting the bill and 16 people opposing it.
This bill legalizes the use and possession of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, psilocybin and peyote for people over the age of 21.
An inexpedient to legislate (ITL) motion was adopted 17-3, with Wheeler, Alissandra Murry (D-Manchester) and Jodi Newell (D-Keene) voting in opposition.
Newell said that she supported legalization of these substances, although steps need to be taken regarding regulation.
Wheeler said that legalizing these substances would only reflect the reality that many New Hampshire people already use them.
Online testimony as of Friday included six people supporting the bill, four opposing it and one neutral person.
This bill would permit adults to possess up to .75 oz. of cannabis, five grams of hashish and certain cannabis-infused products. The bill would also allow adults to cultivate up to six cannabis plants at home in certain situations and possess and process the cannabis and other certain cannabis products In limited amounts. There are also penalties for public usage of cannabis noted in the bill.
A motion to retain this bill was adopted 15-5, with Murray, Wheeler and Newell joined by Kevin Pratt (R-Raymond) and Amanda Bouldin (D-Manchester)
Online testimony as of Friday included 17 people supporting the bill and four in opposition.
This bill creates a committee to study the current education, training and requirements for personnel employed as emergency dispatchers and 911 telecommunicators for police, fire and emergency organizations.
Kevin Janvrin (R-Seabrook) said that there are no overarching standards across communications specialists for first responders.
An ought-to-pass (OTP) motion was adopted 20-0.
There was only one person testifying on this bill online, Kenneth Noel of Manchester. He wrote in favor of the bill.
This bill requires that the state disclose any prior evidence used to obtain either an arrest warrant or a search warrant and disclose whether previous warrants were denied based on evidence related to those warrant requests.
Janvrin said that this bill was aimed at preventing “judge shopping” by police officers, but there could still be issues with justices of the peace related to this bill, ultimately not solving the problem and making it more onerous for police to obtain warrants.
Chair Terry Roy (R-Deerfield) expressed concern that this interjected hearsay into the process, complicating an already complicated process.
Janvrin – stop officers from judge shopping……justice of the peace arrest warrant….they might not be neutral and detached…makes it harder for police to get a warrant
An ITL motion was adopted 20-0.
Online testimony as of Friday included seven people in favor of the bill and no one in opposition.
This bill codifies certain rights of an accused person in the criminal process, increases the penalty assessment in cases involving charges related to an alcohol or controlled drug offense and requires those penalty assessments to be used by the state crime lab.
Mark Proulx (R-Manchester) felt that this was a back door funding process for the crime lab, stating that if they are underfunded, they should go through the normal budgeting process. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth) agreed with that assessment.
An ITL motion was adopted 20-0.
Online testimony as of Friday included four people in favor of the bill and one in opposition.
This bill requires law enforcement officers to be screened for steroids in situations involving complaints involving the use of excessive force.
Jeffrey Tenczar (R-Pelham) said that this bill was overly punitive in nature, could violate due process and many police officer collective bargaining agreements.
Jonathan Stone (R-Claremont) said that the bill had good intentions, but many departments already have comparable policies in place.
Roy said that investigations could happen, but testing for a single substance is overkill and mandating tests did not make sense.
John Scippa, Director of New Hampshire Police Standards and Training, said that drug testing is already required with most police departments as part of the onboarding process.
An ITL motion was adopted 20-0.
Only one person provided online testimony regarding this bill, Jane Graham of Concord. She was in opposition.
The bill would prohibit state and local law enforcement from participating in the enforcement of copyright claims against free and open-source software projects.
Several members of the committee found the wording of the bill to be confusing and unnecessary.
An ITL motion was adopted 19-1, with Newell in opposition.
Online testimony as of Friday included one person in favor of the bill and one person in opposition.
This bill requires feminine hygiene products to be provided to prisoners who menstruate in state and county correctional facilities.
During a public hearing on the bill, the primary concern related to a lack of feminine hygiene products at county correctional facilities.
An amendment was made to the bill after subcommittee sessions that included Department of Corrections Commissioner Helen Hanks and representatives from county correctional facilities, although it is unclear if the county correctional facility representatives played a significant role in the subcommittee process.
Rhodes made a motion on the amendment, but did not specify details during the executive session on the bill, only saying that errors had been fixed in the subcommittee process.
The amendment has not been released on the legislature’s website as of Friday.
Motions on both the amendment and the ought-to-pass as amended (OTPA) on the bill were adopted by 20-0 margins.
Online testimony as of Friday included 94 people in support of the bill and no one in opposition.
This bill prohibits no-knock warrants.
Roy discussed an amendment on the bill, which was unreleased on the legislature’s website as of Friday, that adds a section almost verbatim puts an executive order regarding no-knock warrants, and applies it to the state
Roy said that no-knock warrant operations are generally not being done now and the public overall does not want them, but they need to be allowed in extreme circumstances such as situations like kidnapping and human trafficking.
Dennis Mannion (R-Salem) said that any police team engaged in a no-knock warrant operation is highly specialized and does not just immediately rush in.
Stone said that any federal or state law enforcement agencies that engage in no-knock warrant operations always alert local law enforcement agencies.
Proulx said if someone does engage in a civil rights violation, they can be disciplined later.
Wheeler felt the bill did not change anything and said that an individual can be arrested outside their home and their property searched later. He added that he was involved in a no-knock warrant situation as a child.
The amendment to the bill was adopted 19-1, with only Wheeler in opposition. The OTPA motion was adopted 19-1, with only Murray in opposition.
Online testimony as of Friday included 46 people in favor of the bill, three opposed and one person neutral toward it.
This bill adds misrepresentation and misidentification within a police report, particularly regarding the race or ethnicity of an individual, to the definition of police misconduct.
An amendment, which was not released on the legislature’s website as of Friday, was made by Janvrin. He said the amendment cleans up language in the bill while retaining the essence of its purpose.
Meuse said that this bill sends a message to the .01% of law enforcement in New Hampshire engaging in these activities that they will not be tolerated.
Roy said that he takes any measure targeting law enforcement officers very seriously, but also noted that this just codifies what is already being done and sends a good message.
Both the amendment and the OTPA motions were adopted by 20-0 margins.
Online testimony as of Friday included 62 people in favor of the bill and two opposed.
This bill requires criminal conviction prior to any government seizure of personal property, preventing seizure in civil cases.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire noted its support of the bill
A retention motion was made, with Roy saying more time was needed to study the bill. Lynn said that Bedford Police Department Chief John Bryfonski noted this bill could result in confusion in joint operations between local and federal law enforcement agencies.
The motion passed 20-0.
Online testimony as of Friday included eight people in favor of the bill and no one in opposition.
This bill prohibits personal recognizance bail for violent crimes.
Like all bills related to bail reform, this bill was retained in the expectation that work will be done over the summer to address the various bail reform bills in the house and senate and craft an amendment to consolidate the best parts of all those bills into one unified bill that will move forward.
A retention motion passed 18-2, with Murray and Wheeler in opposition.
