HB 427 - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
24Feb2021... 0149h
2021 SESSION
21-0603
05/04
HOUSE BILL 427
AN ACT prohibiting corporal punishment of children in state agency programs.
SPONSORS: Rep. Altschiller, Rock. 19; Rep. Toll, Ches. 16; Rep. Grote, Rock. 24; Rep. Snow, Hills. 19; Rep. Berch, Ches. 1
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires state agencies to provide in their policies and procedures related to children that all forms of corporal punishment are prohibited.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24Feb2021... 0149h 21-0603
05/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT prohibiting corporal punishment of children in state agency programs.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Human Service; Use of Corporal Punishment Prohibited. Amend RSA 161 by inserting after section 13 the following new section:
161:14 Use of Corporal Punishment Prohibited.
I. Each state agency shall provide in its policies and procedures related to children that all forms of corporal punishment are prohibited.
II. In this section:
(a) "Agency" means any executive branch department, institution, bureau, or office of the state, engaged in providing services to or for children. Agency shall include any public or private entity under contract or agreement with the department of health and human services or the department of education to provide services to or for a child or children.
(b) "Child" or "children" means a person under 18 years of age who has not been transferred to the adult criminal justice system, and includes a person under 22 years of age who is attending school and who has not received a high school diploma.
(c) "Corporal punishment" means any punishment in which physical force is issued and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, and is exclusive of restraint as defined in RSA 126-U:1, IV or physical force used to protect self or others.
2 Physical Force by Persons with Special Responsibilities. Amend RSA 627:6, II(a) to read as follows:
II.(a) A teacher or person otherwise entrusted with the care or supervision of a minor for special purposes is justified on the premises in using necessary force against any such minor, when the minor creates a disturbance[,] or refuses to leave the premises, or when it is necessary [for the maintenance of discipline] to prevent injury to self or others.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.