Senate unanimously approves changes to pretrial process for certain violent offenses

The New Hampshire Senate voted unanimously to pass House Bill 5 92 (FN), a measure that removes statutory references to magistrates and directs that people arrested for specified violent felonies be taken before a judge for bail determinations rather than before a bail commissioner. The Senate approved the committee recommendation and later read the bill a third time and passed it in the same session.

Supporters said the bill is intended to close what they described as a 2018-era loophole that in practice allowed some people arrested for serious crimes to be released without a timely hearing. Senator Abbas, reporting the Judiciary Committee’s recommendation, said the measure "repeals the establishment of the magistrates and references thereto while making changes to eligibility for personal recognizance bail." Senator Gannon, a floor supporter, said the change will “shut the revolving door” and urged colleagues to “keep New Hampshire the safest place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Senator Sullivan, who described several local criminal cases during debate, said the 2018 changes to bail law had produced “a catch and release program” in some instances and urged colleagues to back the bill so “violent offenders will be kept off the streets.” Sullivan cited named incidents used during debate to illustrate the sponsors’ public-safety concerns, including multiple arrests where defendants were released on personal recognizance and later allegedly committed further offenses.

Opponents were limited on the floor but raised operational and fiscal concerns. Senator Aultschuler noted that removing statutory positions for magistrates will change workload and costs for the judicial branch, pointing to the fiscal note’s estimate that existing magistrate positions cost about $480,000 annually for three positions and that judicial branch costs could increase; the fiscal note said the ultimate impact was uncertain and might exceed $100,000. Aultschuler and others asked that the Finance Committee evaluate and, if appropriate, provide funding to support judges and county jails for the additional hearings and hours.

The bill enumerates a list of felony-level offenses that will require a hearing before a judge before personal recognizance release can be granted. Supporters said that under the revised process, if a prosecutor seeks detention pending trial they would be able to have the defendant before a judge at arraignment rather than waiting up to 48 hours for a hearing after release under the prior process.

After debate the Senate recorded a roll call and the clerk announced the vote: House Bill 5 92 passed the Senate by a vote of 23 to 0. The bill was ordered to and read a third time, and the Senate passed it at the present time.

The bill now moves to the next steps for enactment following the Senate’s passage; the transcript did not include any subsequent gubernatorial action.