HB 418 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0650
04/06
HOUSE BILL 418
AN ACT relative to supreme court reporting.
SPONSORS: Rep. M. Smith, Straf. 6
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
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ANALYSIS
This bill makes various changes to the statute governing the supreme court reporter and
supreme court reports.
This bill is a request of the judicial branch.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.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 418 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0650
04/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to supreme court reporting.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 The State Reporter and Reports; Appointment. Amend RSA 505:1 to read as follows:
2 505:1 Appointment. The supreme court shall appoint a suitable person to be reporter of its
3 decisions[, and may remove him at pleasure. Before entering upon his duties, he shall be sworn].
4 The reporter shall be sworn before assuming the duties of the office. The reporter may be
5 removed from office pursuant to procedures established by the supreme court.
6 2 The State Reporter and Reports. Amend RSA 505:7 through RSA 505:11 to read as follows:
7 505:7 Publication. The reporter shall, as soon as practicable after a decision is announced,
8 publish a report of each case in which an opinion is furnished by the court. [The report shall include
9 the opinion furnished by the court.]
10 505:8 Style, Etc. of Reports. The reports [shall be published in volumes entitled "New
11 Hampshire Reports," and shall give the extreme dates of the decisions on the title page. The size,
12 style, and price of the volumes shall be prescribed by the justices of the court] may be published
13 either:
14 I. In volumes entitled "New Hampshire Reports." The size, style, and price of the
15 volumes shall be prescribed by the justices of the court; or
16 II. On the supreme court website; or
17 III. In volumes as described in paragraph I and on the supreme court website.
18 505:9 Sale of Reports and Disposal of Copyright. The reporter [shall publish the reports and]
19 may provide for the sale [thereof,] of the reports and may dispose of the copyright as [he] the
20 reporter shall deem expedient.
21 505:10 Disposal of Proceeds. The reporter shall pay each month to the state treasurer all money
22 received from [such sales and from subscriptions] the sale of reports or from any subscription
23 service developed for delivery of the reports.
24 505:11 Distribution of Court Reports. At the direction of the chief justice of the supreme
25 court, the reporter [shall, unless otherwise directed by the chief justice of the supreme court,] may
26 send one copy of the court reports to each of the following officers and bodies: Justices and clerks of
27 the supreme and superior courts, the office of clerk in each county, state reporter, each free public
28 library established under the laws of the state, the department of justice, the clerk of the Supreme
29 Court of the United States, the Library of Congress at Washington, the [judge] judges and clerk of
30 the District Court of the United States for the District of New Hampshire, and the state library of
31 each state of the United States with which the New Hampshire law library or state library
 HB 418 - AS INTRODUCED
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1 maintains an exchange agreement covering court reports. The residue may be drawn upon by the
2 law library or the state library for their own use or for additional exchange agreements. The law
3 library or state library may recover all sets and/or partial sets of court reports located within those
4 towns closing their free public libraries or desiring to dispose of court reports furnished under this
5 section. The law library or state library may establish full sets in public libraries [open daily]
6 agreeing to make them available to all the people in the geographic area. The reclaimed sets [shall]
7 may be placed in the stock held by the reporter.
8 3 Repeal. RSA 505:12, relative to the annual salary of the supreme court reporter.
9 4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 505:1, 505:7, 505:12
latest version: 505:1, 505:7, 505:12