HB 375 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0454
08/04
HOUSE BILL 375
AN ACT allowing the destruction of valueless contraband by the chief of police.
SPONSORS: Rep. Long, Hills. 10
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
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ANALYSIS
This bill allows the destruction of valueless contraband by the chief of police.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.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 375 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0454
08/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT allowing the destruction of valueless contraband by the chief of police.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Destruction of Property Held by Police. Amend RSA 471-C:13 to read as follows:
2 471-C:13 Property Held in Police Department Property Rooms.
3 I. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, all noncontraband
4 abandoned or lost personal property which has a value of $250 or more and which has been held in a
5 police department property room for a period of at least 180 days, or which has a value of less than
6 $250 and has been held for a period of at least 90 days, may be disposed of by the police department
7 by returning it to the finder, if known, if the finder was other than a police officer who discovered the
8 property during the course of the police officer's usual police duties. If the property cannot be
9 returned to the finder, the property shall be sold at public auction with the proceeds to be turned
10 over to the town or city treasurer. Except that any bicycle which has been held in a police
11 department property room for a period of 90 days or more shall be sold at public auction with the
12 proceeds to be used for the support of local bicycle safety programs, or, if no local bicycle safety
13 programs are available, then with the consent of the local governing body, to be used for any other
14 purpose. The police department shall be relieved of all liability for any claim thereafter arising or
15 made with respect to property disposed of under this section. A good faith judgment of the value of
16 the property by the police department shall be determinative for purposes of this section.
17 II. If the noncontraband abandoned or lost personal property cannot be returned
18 under paragraph I, and if it is determined in good faith by the police department to be of
19 no monetary value then said property may be destroyed or disposed of as directed by the
20 chief of police for the department.
21 2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 471-C:13
Ought to Pass: 471-C:13
latest version: 471-C:13