This bill amends RSA 490:32 to enhance the judicial performance evaluation process by broadening the definition of "judicial officer" to include all full-time and part-time judges, whether active or in senior status, as well as judicial referees. The bill establishes a Judicial Performance Evaluation (JPE) program, which aims to improve the performance of individual judicial officers and the judiciary as a whole. Key changes include the introduction of comprehensive evaluation methods such as questionnaires, self-evaluations, in-court observations, and statistical analysis of case processing times. The JPE program will ensure that each judicial officer is evaluated at least once every three years, with follow-up evaluations for those who do not achieve satisfactory results.

Additionally, the bill mandates that the JPE program anonymizes and compiles evaluation results into performance reports for each judicial officer, which will be made public. It also stipulates that the chief justice and a majority of the supreme court will establish evaluation standards and interventions for those needing improvement. The bill removes previous confidentiality provisions regarding evaluation results and requires annual reporting on the evaluation process to be submitted to various government officials. The estimated fiscal impact indicates that the implementation of this bill will increase state expenditures by over $160,000 annually starting in FY 2027, primarily due to the costs associated with hiring retired judges for in-court observations and additional administrative staff.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 490:32
HB1130 text: 490:32