Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, left inset, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to approve comprehensive bail reform. The panel held a hearing on a House-passed package that combined four bills into one (SB 318).
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, left inset, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to approve comprehensive bail reform. The panel held a hearing on a House-passed package that combined four bills into one (SB 318).
CONCORD — Manchester’s mayor and police chief made one of their final pitches this session for comprehensive bail reform legislation (SB 318) during a state Senate hearing Wednesday.
But the proposal faced some stiff questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the creation of a new system of 10 court magistrates.
These judicial officers would act to meet the stated goal in the package that those arrested for serious, mostly violent felony crimes receive a bail hearing within 24 hours.
County jail administrators raised concerns about the price tag for an electronic monitoring program that the 10 counties would administer for some offenders who get let out on bail pending trial.
Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to move up the effective date for these changes from July 1, 2025 to this July 1.
“Our communities can’t wait; we need action now,” Aldenberg said. “Please move the needle on this legislation.”
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais spoke of his own experiences as someone 14 years in recovery from substance abuse, adding that his contact with the criminal justice system turned his life around.
“We cannot afford to allow individuals charged with serious offenses to be arrested and then let out on the street,” Ruais said.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, noted that the House-passed bill did not spell out what past experiences these court magistrates had to have.
“There are no qualifications listed here,” Carson said.
Erin Creegan, general counsel for the Administrative Office of the Courts, said the court magistrates were viewed as “highly-compensated bail commissioners” who would go to county jails or police departments to hold quick hearings, issue warrants and make other decisions on nights and weekends.
Albert “Buzz” Scherr, an appellate law defender and law professor who worked on the package that combined four different bills, said the assumption was the magistrates would all be lawyers.
The House-passed bill would each year spend $1.6 million for the magistrates, $1 million to raise fees that bail commissioners would be paid, $150,000 for judicial training and the electronic monitoring that would cost $1 million up front and then $290,000 to maintain annually, Creegan said.
Bail commissioners get $40 a case. The bill would raise the fee to $50 and require the courts pay bail commissioners; currently the commissioners have to collect fees from the offenders.
Carroll County Corrections Superintendent Sean Eldridge said four counties now have electronic monitoring programs but he estimated the cost for all 10 to implement this could be $15 million annually.
Scherr said the measure would apply to a small, select number of offenders and not cost that much.
“This is not a comprehensive, electronic monitoring program,” Scherr said.
Another controversial provision in the House bill would change the standard of proof for a judge or magistrate to decide whether to detain someone without bail pending trial.
The House bill lowers that standard from “clear and convincing” to “substantial” evidence that the person’s release is a danger to himself or the public.
Aldenberg said the police chiefs would prefer to see an even lower standard which would be “preponderance of the evidence.”
Scherr said he didn’t want to make any change in this area, but he agreed in the spirit of compromise.
But Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, a defense lawyer, said he believes the courts would judge any standard other than “clear and convincing” to be unconstitutional.
