HB1091 Relative to the penalty for violations of municipal ordinances related to sleeping or camping outside.
Relative to the penalty for violations of municipal ordinances related to sleeping or camping outside.
Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?
Overall Impact Score
Mixed
Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)
Your Wallet
Fining homeless individuals is costly to enforce and produces no revenue since people without homes typically cannot pay fines.
Your Community
How a community treats its most vulnerable members reflects its values. Reducing criminalization of homelessness while pursuing actual solutions is more effective.
Your Freedom
Criminalizing sleeping outdoors when people have no alternatives punishes involuntary circumstances, raising fundamental liberty concerns.
Status
Rules suspension to consider late sign off report at the present time Motion Failed DV 180-156 House Journal 15
Sponsor
Jodi Newell (D)
The Short Version
Would modify penalties for violating municipal ordinances related to sleeping or camping outside. This addresses how NH treats people experiencing homelessness who have no choice but to sleep outdoors, a topic with renewed significance after recent Supreme Court rulings.
Who's Behind This Bill?
Who Benefits
- ▲ People experiencing homelessness
- ▲ Civil liberties advocates
- ▲ Communities seeking humane solutions
Who Pays the Price
- ▼ Municipalities that prefer enforcement-based approaches to homelessness
Bill statuses as of May 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.