Bill Text: NH HB1320 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to law enforcement responsibility for interstate highways.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Failed) 2012-02-01 - House Inexpedient to Legislate: Motion Adopted Voice Vote; House Journal 13, PG.746 [HB1320 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2012-HB1320-Introduced.html
HB 1320-FN-LOCAL – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
HOUSE BILL 1320-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to law enforcement responsibility for interstate highways.
SPONSORS: Rep. R. Barry, Hills 19; Rep. C. Christensen, Hills 19; Rep. Weyler, Rock 8
COMMITTEE: Public Works and Highways
This bill would allow town law enforcement officials to staff highway construction sites.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2705
08/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT relative to law enforcement responsibility for interstate highways.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Jurisdiction of State Police. Amend RSA 106-B:15 to read as follows:
106-B:15 Jurisdiction of Police Employees. Police employees have jurisdiction on all turnpikes, toll roads and interstate highways except where provided in RSA 105:13, IV, and nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of local police officers. A police employee shall not act within the limits of a town having a population of more than 3,000 or of any city, except when he witnesses a crime, or is in pursuit of a law violator or suspected violator, or when in search of a person wanted for a crime committed outside its limits, or when in search of a witness of such crime, or when traveling through such town or city, or when acting as an agent of the director of motor vehicles enforcing rules pertaining to driver licenses, registrations and the inspection of motor vehicles, or when requested to act by an official of another law enforcement agency, or when ordered by the governor. No criminal case shall be abated, quashed, or dismissed and no evidence in a criminal case shall be suppressed or excluded because a police employee has failed to comply with the jurisdictional limits of this section, provided, that the police employee had a good faith belief that he had authority to act when he acted.
2 Employing Police; State Roadways. Amend RSA 105:9-a to read as follows:
105:9-a Employing Police. The chief of police in any city or town may, in order to meet the requirements set forth in RSA 105:9, employ certified police officers of any other town in this state to preserve order among the persons attending any public meeting or function or staff state highway construction sites. Such officers shall have the powers there which they have in the towns for which they are appointed, and their services shall be paid for by the sponsor of the public meeting or function.
3 New Paragraph; Police Officers; Extended Authority. Amend RSA 105:13 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
IV. Where no written agreement otherwise exists, any duly authorized police officer, constable, or watchman from the town may be employed to staff state highway construction sites.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
12-2705
11/09/11
HB 1320-FN-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to law enforcement responsibility for interstate highways.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Safety and the New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill will have an indeterminable impact on state and local revenue and expenditures. There will be no fiscal impact on county revenue or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Safety and the New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill gives local law enforcement the discretion to utilize law enforcement officers from other municipalities to staff highway construction sites. Both entities state they do not possess the information to estimate which municipalities currently do or in the future would staff highway construction sites under the current and proposed legislation, so they are unable to project the potential fiscal impact of the proposed bill.
The Department of Transportation states arrangements for law enforcement staffing at highway construction sites are handled by the project contractors, and this bill would not affect the process currently in place for doing so.
