New Hampshire 2026 Session Status: Passed House Bipartisan · 5 R · 2 D cosponsors

HB 697 — relative to witness fees in criminal cases.

Last action — Refer to Interim Study, MA, VV; 01/07/2026; SJ 1

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the House. Introduced January 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Advancing 54% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • Passed House

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 7 sponsors

    1 primary, 6 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (5 R · 2 D) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

relative to witness fees in criminal cases.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

1 change Share ↗

Compared against the N.H. Revised Statutes Annotated as published AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill repeals and reenacts RSA 516:16 to establish witness fee eligibility for civilian witnesses required to return to court in criminal cases.

  • RSA 516:16

    516:16 Repealed by 2019, 346:157, V, eff. July 1, 2019. → 516:16 Witness Fees for Returning to Court. In any criminal proceeding, no witness shall be eligible to receive a fee for appearing in court pursuant to a summons to appear except if a civilian witness appears in court at the time and place designated but is required, through no fault of the witness, to return to court to testify in the same proceeding for a second or subsequent day. For each subsequent day, the civilian witness shall be entitled to a payment for each day of attendance and mileage for each mile's travel to and from the place of testifying; mileage to be allowed for each day's attendance where the witness is required to leave the town or city in which he or she resides to testify. The rate of the fees shall be the same as those authorized in 28 U.S.C. section 1821.

    This change creates a framework for compensating civilian witnesses for returning to court multiple days in criminal trials.

Action History

  1. Refer to Interim Study, MA, VV; 01/07/2026; SJ 1

  2. Committee Report: Referred to Interim Study, 01/07/2026; Vote 5-0; CC; SC 46

  3. Rereferred to Committee, MA, VV; 05/01/2025; SJ 11

  4. Committee Report: Rereferred to Committee, 05/01/2025, Vote 4-0, CC SC 19

  5. Hearing: 04/03/2025, Room 100, SH, 01:00 pm; SC 15

  6. Hearing: 03/18/2025, Room 100, SH, 02:15 pm; SC 13

  7. Introduced 03/06/2025 and Referred to Judiciary; SJ 7

  8. Ought to Pass: MA VV 02/13/2025 HJ 5 P. 12

  9. Committee Report: Ought to Pass 02/03/2025 (Vote 11-1; CC) HC 11 P. 7

  10. Executive Session: 02/03/2025 11:15 am LOB 206-208

  11. Public Hearing: 02/03/2025 11:15 am LOB 206-208

  12. Introduced (in recess of) 01/09/2025 and referred to Judiciary HJ 3 P. 23

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 6 co-sponsors · 408 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (6)

Not signed on (408)

408 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 408 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 697 do?
relative to witness fees in criminal cases.
Who sponsors HB 697?
HB 697 is sponsored by Katelyn Kuttab (Republican), Jodi Newell (Democrat), Kelley Potenza (Republican), Mike Drago (Republican), Melissa Litchfield (Republican), Paul Terry (Republican), and Jonah Wheeler (Democrat).
What is the current status of HB 697?
This bill has passed the House. Introduced January 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track HB 697?
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