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Committee approves bill allowing county revolving funds for sheriff details, adds wording change to reference ‘county convention’
Summary
The committee recommended House Bill 110, allowing counties to establish revolving funds to collect private detail revenue and spend it on public-safety needs, and approved a committee amendment replacing the phrase “county delegation” with the statutory term “county convention.” Sheriffs and county representatives testified in support.
The Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee voted to recommend House Bill 110, which permits counties to create revolving accounts to receive private payments for deputy details and to use those funds for public-safety expenses such as equipment. The committee also approved a technical committee amendment replacing the phrase “county delegation” with the statutory term “county convention.”
Senator Tim Lang, speaking as sponsor in committee, said towns already maintain similar revolving funds for police and fire details and the bill extends that authority to counties so revenues from details can be deposited into a self-replenishing account rather than being treated solely as general-line revenue.
Sheriff Bill Wright, identified as the sheriff of Left County and president of the New Hampshire Sheriffs' Association, testified that all 10 county sheriffs support the bill and that some sheriffs exhaust budgeted detail funds early in the fiscal year. "Once the money starts getting replaced by the funds that are coming in as a revenue source and starts being replenished, then it was completely funded by the sources in which we're working," Wright said. He described the details as privately paid work that, after initial budget support, can replenish the account and fund equipment and other public-safety needs.
A representative of the Association of Counties said the association took no formal position but urged the committee to use the statutory term "county convention" (citing RSA 24:1) rather than the colloquial "county delegation," and the committee adopted that change as a 3-day committee amendment. Committee discussion clarified that counties would opt in through local votes and that transfers and approvals would follow existing RSA procedures for county expenditures.
The committee adopted the committee amendment and recommended House Bill 110 ought to pass; members also placed the bill on consent.
