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.