Senate Judiciary advances amendment to HB57 to send more felony arrests to judge for arraignment

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced an amended version of HB57 at a committee meeting, moving to require that people arrested for certain felony offenses be detained for arraignment before a judge rather than processed solely by a bail commissioner, sponsors said.

Senator Victoria Sullivan, sponsor of the amendment, told the committee the change “shall not be brought before a bail commissioner and shall upon request be detained pending arraignment before the court.” She said the amendment specifies that arraignment “shall occur no later than 36 hours after the arrest,” language she said was intended to limit how long someone can be held before seeing a judge.

The amendment (identified in committee discussion as 2182s/2183s in its replace-all form) originally listed a broader set of offenses; sponsors said later changes removed several categories so the list focuses on felonies that have an element of physical force against a person or crimes against children. Sponsors also proposed shifting the bill’s effective date to 180 days after passage so it would align with the implementation timetable for recently enacted bail-reform legislation.

Representative Timothy Ward, speaking as a member of the House Judiciary minority, said he worries the amendment “greatly expands the list of crimes” that would bypass the expedited magistrate/bail-commissioner process and warned that the change could “greatly increase the load on the courts.” Ward also noted the 36-hour standard could be longer when arrests occur before weekends or holidays, saying the delay “could be whatever 108 hours.”

Committee members debated language referring to RSA 650-A (the state statute titled “felonious use of a firearm”). A committee member summarized the statute for the record, saying it treats a person as guilty of a class B felony “if he commits or attempts to commit any felony when armed with a pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, or any other firearm,” and argued the statutory definition could sweep in nonviolent felonies if a firearm was merely carried during the underlying offense. Other committee members said the intent is to concentrate the list on violent offenses or those where the victim is a person, and sponsors proposed striking some firearm- and weapon-related lines for that reason.

Committee legal counsel and multiple senators discussed options for tightening the language (for example, specifying “felonious use” rather than mere possession, or limiting the reference to firearms rather than broader “dangerous weapons”). Senator Sullivan said she would accept changes aimed at focusing the list on crimes against persons.

The committee recorded a roll-style outcome on the amendment discussion, advancing the amendment in committee by voice and later approving an "ought to pass as amended" motion for the amendment; committee discussion recorded three members in favor and two opposed on the committee action regarding the amendment. The committee then moved HB57, as amended and with related HB10 language referenced in committee, forward for further consideration.

The transcript does not record the final chamber-level schedule or a subsequent floor vote; further steps were not specified in the committee record provided.

Ending: Committee members said they are willing to continue refining the offense list and statutory citations to make sure the bill targets violent conduct rather than nonviolent felonies in which a firearm happened to be present. The committee proceeded to other bills after the HB57 discussion.