New Hampshire Revised Statutes 265-A:36 – Alcohol Ignition Interlock Program Established
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I. Any person whose license or permission to drive has been revoked or suspended for an aggravated DWI offense under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:18, I(b) or I(c), or a subsequent DWI offense under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:18, IV shall be required by the court after the period of revocation or suspension to install an ignition interlock device as defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 259:43-a in any vehicle registered to that person or used by that person, for not less than 12 months nor more than 2 years. Installation and monitoring costs shall be paid by the offender. A certificate proving installation of the device shall be provided to the division of motor vehicles as a condition precedent to reinstatement of the individual’s license to drive, and the division may mark the person’s license and the person’s number plate by use of a striping sticker accordingly.
I-a. Any person who is convicted of driving while under suspension or revocation resulting from a DWI offense shall be required by the court to install an ignition interlock device in any vehicle registered to that person or used by that person, for the remaining period of suspension or revocation plus an additional period not less than 12 months nor more than 2 years. The court may order such installation on a temporary basis prior to conviction as a condition of bail.
I-b. To the extent that technology does not exist to permit the installation or safe operation of any particular vehicle type when equipped with an interlock, the court may order that a restraining device which disables the vehicle be placed on any such vehicle registered to or used by a person required to install an ignition interlock device.
II. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a court of competent jurisdiction from requiring the installation of an ignition interlock device for any person convicted of a violation of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:2 involving a vehicle, where the conviction is not based upon a complaint which alleges prior convictions as provided in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:18, IV, but the person is found to have had one or more such prior convictions in this state or in an out-of-state jurisdiction.
III. Any person under the age of 21 whose license or permission to drive has been revoked or suspended under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:18 may be required by the court after the period of revocation or suspension to install an ignition interlock device as defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 259:43-a in any vehicle registered to that person or used by that person, until the age of 21 or for not less than 12 months, whichever is longer.
IV. It shall be a violation for an ignition interlock device to be sold or distributed in this state without the device being approved by the commissioner or the department of safety.
IV-a. Wherever the term “alcohol ignition interlock device” or “ignition interlock device” is referred to in this chapter or in department administrative rules, it shall mean an enhanced technology ignition interlock device, as defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 259:28-b. A device installed on or before January 1, 2019 that is not an enhanced technology ignition interlock device may, if it is recalibrated within 30 days of installation and every 60 days thereafter, continue to be operated in the vehicle in which it was installed until January 1, 2022 or such time as the vehicle is replaced with a different vehicle, whichever occurs first, at which time it shall be replaced with an enhanced technology ignition interlock device.
V. The department of safety shall establish rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, for the approval of ignition interlock devices and for the licensing of approved interlock service providers.
VI. The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations to create an ignition interlock program that will control the delivery of interlock service in this state under this subdivision. The rules adopted for the licensing of approved interlock service providers shall require that each provider, at a minimum:
(a) Provide recalibration of each enhanced technology ignition interlock device no less frequently than every 180 days unless otherwise ordered by the court;
(b) Maintain at least that number of locations across the state for the installation, service, calibration, monitoring, and removal of an ignition interlock device as might be required from time to time by the program operating protocol developed by the commissioner;
(c) Provide periodic reports as determined by the court or in department rules, to the director of the division of motor vehicles, the department’s interlock coordinator, and the court of jurisdiction;
(d) Retain all data-logger records for 36 months after the end of the period to which the offender is sentenced;
(e) Maintain a reserve account with a balance at least equal to 2 percent of the provider’s revenue from interlock device service and installation in this state, excluding the purchase or rental costs of devices, during the previous calendar year. Funds in the account shall be used to assist with the cost of the installation and service to those offenders determined by the court or the department to be unable to pay the full cost of an interlock program. Offenders determined by the court or the department to be unable to pay the full cost of an interlock program shall, at a minimum, pay 25 percent of the cost for the installation and service. Reserve account balances and costs to the provider for assisting with the cost of installation and service shall be reported annually to the department;
(f) Provide a certificate of installation to the vehicle’s owner and to the department’s interlock coordinator upon installation of the device in a form to be determined by the department’s interlock rules; and
(g) Provide reports to the department when data specified in department rules becomes available. The reports shall be provided no less frequently than every 60 days. The department shall make data from the reports available to the director of the division of motor vehicles, appropriate prosecutor, prosecuting agency, treatment provider, probation officer, and defense attorney by means of authorizing the interlock provider to provide these entities with secure electronic access to the data via the interlock provider’s web-based portal.
I-a. Any person who is convicted of driving while under suspension or revocation resulting from a DWI offense shall be required by the court to install an ignition interlock device in any vehicle registered to that person or used by that person, for the remaining period of suspension or revocation plus an additional period not less than 12 months nor more than 2 years. The court may order such installation on a temporary basis prior to conviction as a condition of bail.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 265-A:36
- Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
- Certificate: shall mean :
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:9 - Commissioner: shall mean the commissioner of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:13
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Conviction: shall mean an adjudication of guilt which has not been annulled or vacated, a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an administrative proceeding, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court costs, or the violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether the penalty is rebated, suspended or otherwise affected by probation. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:14
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Defense attorney: Represent defendants in criminal matters.
- Department: shall mean the department of safety of the state of New Hampshire. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:19
- Director: shall mean the director of the division of motor vehicles of the department of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:20
- Division: shall mean the division of motor vehicles in the department of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:22
- Enhanced technology ignition interlock device: shall mean an ignition interlock device equipped with a camera and which will transmit data as events occur and is capable of capturing and encoding as events occur a digital or photographic image of the vehicle driver including the time, date, and breath alcohol level of all breath attempts. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:28-b
- Ignition interlock device: shall mean breath alcohol ignition interlock device or enhanced technology ignition interlock device, which is a system or device that connects a breath analyzer to a motor vehicle's ignition system. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:43-a
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- License: shall mean any driver's license or any other license or permit to drive a vehicle issued under the laws of this state or a reciprocating state including:
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:48 - Number plate: shall mean the sign or marker furnished by the director, on which is displayed the registration number or mark of a vehicle assigned thereto by the director, which shall bear on the face thereof a permanent or changeable designation of the effective period. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:68
- Owner: shall mean :
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:72 - Person: shall mean the same as provided in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:74
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Revocation: shall mean the termination by formal action of the department or of a court of competent jurisdiction of a person's driver's license or privilege to drive on the ways of this state, or of any other license, registration or permit issued by the department. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:90
- State: shall mean :
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:106 - Suspension: shall mean the temporary withdrawal by formal action of the department or of a court of competent jurisdiction of a person's driver's license or privilege to drive a vehicle on the ways of this state, or any other license, registration or permit issued by the department, which temporary withdrawal shall be for a period specifically designated by the department or court and until the reissuance of the license, registration, permit or privilege. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:107
- Vehicle: shall mean :
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:122
I-b. To the extent that technology does not exist to permit the installation or safe operation of any particular vehicle type when equipped with an interlock, the court may order that a restraining device which disables the vehicle be placed on any such vehicle registered to or used by a person required to install an ignition interlock device.
II. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a court of competent jurisdiction from requiring the installation of an ignition interlock device for any person convicted of a violation of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:2 involving a vehicle, where the conviction is not based upon a complaint which alleges prior convictions as provided in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:18, IV, but the person is found to have had one or more such prior convictions in this state or in an out-of-state jurisdiction.
III. Any person under the age of 21 whose license or permission to drive has been revoked or suspended under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:18 may be required by the court after the period of revocation or suspension to install an ignition interlock device as defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 259:43-a in any vehicle registered to that person or used by that person, until the age of 21 or for not less than 12 months, whichever is longer.
IV. It shall be a violation for an ignition interlock device to be sold or distributed in this state without the device being approved by the commissioner or the department of safety.
IV-a. Wherever the term “alcohol ignition interlock device” or “ignition interlock device” is referred to in this chapter or in department administrative rules, it shall mean an enhanced technology ignition interlock device, as defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 259:28-b. A device installed on or before January 1, 2019 that is not an enhanced technology ignition interlock device may, if it is recalibrated within 30 days of installation and every 60 days thereafter, continue to be operated in the vehicle in which it was installed until January 1, 2022 or such time as the vehicle is replaced with a different vehicle, whichever occurs first, at which time it shall be replaced with an enhanced technology ignition interlock device.
V. The department of safety shall establish rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, for the approval of ignition interlock devices and for the licensing of approved interlock service providers.
VI. The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations to create an ignition interlock program that will control the delivery of interlock service in this state under this subdivision. The rules adopted for the licensing of approved interlock service providers shall require that each provider, at a minimum:
(a) Provide recalibration of each enhanced technology ignition interlock device no less frequently than every 180 days unless otherwise ordered by the court;
(b) Maintain at least that number of locations across the state for the installation, service, calibration, monitoring, and removal of an ignition interlock device as might be required from time to time by the program operating protocol developed by the commissioner;
(c) Provide periodic reports as determined by the court or in department rules, to the director of the division of motor vehicles, the department’s interlock coordinator, and the court of jurisdiction;
(d) Retain all data-logger records for 36 months after the end of the period to which the offender is sentenced;
(e) Maintain a reserve account with a balance at least equal to 2 percent of the provider’s revenue from interlock device service and installation in this state, excluding the purchase or rental costs of devices, during the previous calendar year. Funds in the account shall be used to assist with the cost of the installation and service to those offenders determined by the court or the department to be unable to pay the full cost of an interlock program. Offenders determined by the court or the department to be unable to pay the full cost of an interlock program shall, at a minimum, pay 25 percent of the cost for the installation and service. Reserve account balances and costs to the provider for assisting with the cost of installation and service shall be reported annually to the department;
(f) Provide a certificate of installation to the vehicle’s owner and to the department’s interlock coordinator upon installation of the device in a form to be determined by the department’s interlock rules; and
(g) Provide reports to the department when data specified in department rules becomes available. The reports shall be provided no less frequently than every 60 days. The department shall make data from the reports available to the director of the division of motor vehicles, appropriate prosecutor, prosecuting agency, treatment provider, probation officer, and defense attorney by means of authorizing the interlock provider to provide these entities with secure electronic access to the data via the interlock provider’s web-based portal.