Committee moves to clarify that out-of-state convictions can qualify as grounds for termination of parental rights

Chairman Abbas and members of the Senate Children and Family Law Committee voted in executive session to advance Senate Bill 278, legislation that would amend RSA 170-C-5 to clarify that qualifying convictions in other states may be treated as the equivalent of specified New Hampshire offenses for purposes of petitions to terminate parental rights.

Tommy O'Neil, minority caucus director, introduced the bill on behalf of prime sponsor Senator Suzanne Prentice and said the measure was requested by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Susan Larrabee, general counsel and legislative liaison for the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), told the committee SB 278 focuses on the list of offenses in RSA 170-C-5(7), which currently references offenses such as murder, manslaughter, and certain aggravated assaults under New Hampshire criminal statutes and was enacted in 1999.

Larrabee said the bill would add language explicitly recognizing "the equivalent conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction" from another state, and noted the change responds to a New Hampshire Supreme Court decision issued Nov. 14, 2023 (docket number 20220257) that considered the statutory text and legislative intent. She said the Supreme Court majority upheld a termination in that case while a dissent raised concerns about whether statutes elsewhere explicitly covered out-of-state equivalents.

Senator Long asked whether the bill would apply retroactively; Larrabee said the Supreme Court decision already made the court's interpretation applicable in the specific case, and the bill is intended to clarify the statute going forward so lay petitioners and attorneys can read the statutory text "on its four corners."

In executive session, a motion to pass SB 278 was made and seconded; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. Committee members described the bill as a technical, "housekeeping" correction to align the statutory text with the court's treatment and to make the language clearer for nonattorney petitioners.

The bill, as explained to the committee, does not itself create new categories of offenses but clarifies that convictions elsewhere that are equivalent to the named New Hampshire crimes may be used as grounds in termination petitions.

Votes at the committee level were taken by voice; members announced "ayes," and the chair reported the motion carried.