HB 316 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0406
04/05
HOUSE BILL 316
AN ACT requiring a person issued a summons to remain of good behavior.
SPONSORS: Rep. Testerman, Merr. 2; Rep. Marsh, Carr. 8
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
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ANALYSIS
This bill amends the summons form to require the defendant remain of good behavior pending
his or her appearance.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
 HB 316 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0406
04/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT requiring a person issued a summons to remain of good behavior.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Summons Instead of Arrest. Amend RSA 594:14, I to read as follows:
2 I. In any case in which it is lawful for a peace officer to arrest without a warrant a person for
3 a misdemeanor or violation, he or she may instead issue to the person in hand a written summons in
4 substantially the following form:
5 The State of New Hampshire
6 To ......................................................................
7 You are hereby notified to appear before the .................... circuit court of the State of New
8 Hampshire, district division, to be holden in ...................... on the .......... day of .................... 20 ...... at
9 .......... o'clock in the forenoon (afternoon) to answer to a complaint (to be filed in said court) charging
10 you with .......... in violation of the laws of the State of New Hampshire. If you are charged with a
11 class A misdemeanor or felony and you want a lawyer to represent you at the arraignment and
12 throughout your case, but you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, you must fill out an application for
13 court-appointed counsel and deliver it to the circuit court identified above as soon as possible. The
14 court will appoint an attorney to represent you if your application shows that you are eligible. If you
15 believe that you are eligible for appointed counsel, you may apply prior to your arraignment.
16 Hereof fail not, as you will answer your default under the penalty of the law in that behalf made and
17 provided.
18 Pending appearance as described herein, you shall remain of good behavior.
19 Dated at
20 Name
21 the.......... day of .............. 20.....
22 Title
23
24 Upon failure to appear or to remain of good behavior, a warrant of arrest may issue. Any person
25 who fails to remain of good behavior or appear in answer to such summons shall be guilty of a
26 misdemeanor.
27 2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 594:14
latest version: 594:14