New Hampshire Revised Statutes 604-A:2-f – Appointment of Counsel for Nonpayment or Nonperformance
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I. No defendant shall be incarcerated after a final hearing for nonpayment of an assessment or nonperformance of community service unless counsel has been appointed for a defendant who is indigent or such defendant has executed a valid waiver of counsel for the final hearing. Incarceration of such defendant may occur only if the court, after having conducted an ability to pay or ability to perform final hearing at which the court has made a specific inquiry of the defendant concerning his or her financial circumstances and his or her reasons for nonpayment or nonperformance, finds that the defendant willfully failed to pay the assessment or perform the community service.
II. Prior to conducting an ability to pay or ability to perform final hearing, the court shall:
(a) Provide the defendant with a financial statement under oath and direct the defendant to complete the financial statement under oath;
(b) Inform the defendant that he or she may be immediately incarcerated if the court finds that he or she has willfully failed to comply with the court’s prior order to pay an assessment or perform community service;
(c) Inform the defendant that he or she is entitled to counsel for the final hearing in which incarceration is a possible outcome and, if the defendant cannot afford one, the court will appoint one; and
(d) Explain the issues to be decided at the final hearing as well as the process provided.
III. The court shall appoint counsel to represent an indigent defendant at a final hearing on an ability to pay or perform held pursuant to this section if incarceration is a possible outcome of the final hearing.
IV. When the court appoints counsel to represent a defendant in a proceeding under this section, the court shall grant the defendant relief from the obligation to repay the state for appointed counsel fees under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 604-A:9, I(b), if the court determines that the defendant is financially unable to repay.
II. Prior to conducting an ability to pay or ability to perform final hearing, the court shall:
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 604-A:2-f
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
- oath: shall include "affirmation" in all cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath; and, in like cases, the word "sworn" shall include the word "affirmed. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:24
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- state: when applied to different parts of the United States, may extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall include said district and territories. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:4
(a) Provide the defendant with a financial statement under oath and direct the defendant to complete the financial statement under oath;
(b) Inform the defendant that he or she may be immediately incarcerated if the court finds that he or she has willfully failed to comply with the court’s prior order to pay an assessment or perform community service;
(c) Inform the defendant that he or she is entitled to counsel for the final hearing in which incarceration is a possible outcome and, if the defendant cannot afford one, the court will appoint one; and
(d) Explain the issues to be decided at the final hearing as well as the process provided.
III. The court shall appoint counsel to represent an indigent defendant at a final hearing on an ability to pay or perform held pursuant to this section if incarceration is a possible outcome of the final hearing.
IV. When the court appoints counsel to represent a defendant in a proceeding under this section, the court shall grant the defendant relief from the obligation to repay the state for appointed counsel fees under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 604-A:9, I(b), if the court determines that the defendant is financially unable to repay.