HB1087 Relative to citizen's arrests by private persons.
Relative to citizen's arrests by private persons.
Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?
Overall Impact Score
Concerning
Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)
Your Wallet
Taxpayers will fund Department of Safety's required public information campaign at $100,000-$500,000 per year, plus indeterminable increases in judicial and correctional system costs.
Your Community
County and local governments face indeterminable expenditure increases from potential increases in investigations, prosecutions, and incarceration, with unclear net effect on public safety.
Your Freedom
The bill expands private citizens' authority to detain others based on their judgment of probable cause, creating potential for wrongful detention, while providing immunity protections that may limit accountability.
Status
Inexpedient to Legislate: Motion Adopted Voice Vote 02/19/2026 House Journal 5 P. 8
Sponsor
Cyril Aures (R)
The Short Version
This bill legalizes citizen's arrests by private persons for felonies and certain misdemeanors, with immunity from liability if done in good faith with reasonable force. It requires the Department of Safety to conduct a public information campaign, estimated to cost $100,000-$500,000 annually, and may increase prosecution and incarceration costs with indeterminable impact on judicial and correctional systems.
Who's Behind This Bill?
Who Benefits
- ▲ Private persons who act in good faith and with probable cause—they gain legal immunity from criminal or civil liability for citizen's arrests
- ▲ Individuals present at scenes of felonies or breach-of-peace misdemeanors who wish to detain suspects
Who Pays the Price
- ▼ Taxpayers funding Department of Safety public information campaign ($100,000-$500,000 annually)
- ▼ Judicial and correctional systems bearing indeterminable increased costs
- ▼ Individuals who may be wrongfully detained by private citizens acting on mistaken probable cause, as immunity limits their civil remedies
- ▼ County and local governments facing indeterminable expenditure increases
Bill statuses as of October 7, 2026. Check LegiScan or NH General Court for the latest.
This bill was auto-scored using AI analysis of the bill text and legislative data. Scores may be refined as we review more bills.