Advocates warn raising assault penalties for first responders could harm people in crisis while sponsor calls for stronger protections

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony on a bill, presented as the second part of a package separated from an earlier filing, that would create stand‑alone offenses and enhanced penalties for assaulting public-safety personnel.

The sponsor told the committee the bill would make it a class A misdemeanor to knowingly cause serious bodily injury to "public safety people," including police officers, paid and volunteer firefighters, and EMS personnel; knowingly causing bodily injury would be a class B misdemeanor. The sponsor said the separate statute aims to send a message that assaults on first responders are serious, to encourage consistent charging and to allow tracking of such offenses on criminal records.

"The bill basically makes it a class a misdemeanor to knowingly cause serious bodily injury to public safety people," the sponsor said, explaining that the change would avoid a separate enhanced-penalty process and help track prior assaults on first responders.

Mental-health and disability advocates urged the committee to reject or amend the bill. Holly Stevens, director of public policy at NAMI New Hampshire, said she opposed House Bill 59 because it would likely increase arrests and higher penalties for people experiencing mental-health crises. Stevens said the bill, as amended by the House, includes provisions that would allow a prima facie finding of dangerousness for bail decisions and could increase jail time for people in crisis.

"We are here today to speak in opposition to house bill, 59 because of the impacts it will likely have on folks with mental illness," Stevens said, adding that the bill could lead to more people with active mental-health conditions being detained without access to treatment.

Karen Rosenberg, policy director at the Disability Rights Center, said the state already criminalizes felonious assault and provides enhanced penalties; she questioned whether this bill would reduce assaults on first responders or primarily increase incarceration of people with disabilities and behavioral health needs. Rosenberg suggested the committee consider a study to better understand the problem and the consequences of the proposed penalties.

Rosenberg and Stevens proposed technical changes including replacing "knowingly" with the narrower mental-state term "purposefully," removing the presumption of dangerousness for bail, and convening a study committee to examine the statute's impact over time.

County corrections and association representatives clarified operational limits; Kate Horgan of the New Hampshire Association of Counties noted county jails cannot four-point restrain someone in custody and suggested local corrections capacity and care for people in crisis should be considered.

The committee took no recorded vote on the bill in the provided transcript; testimony and questions concluded and the hearing was ended.