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Bar News - March 21, 2003 Clarifying Cost of Proposed Expansion of Family Division IN A LIST of legislative bills published in the Feb. 21, 2003, issue of Bar News, the cost of statewide expansion of the Family Division, as proposed by HB-643-FN, was inaccurately stated. Although the intent of the bill is to implement the Family Division statewide, the bill’s fiscal note calls for implementation in one county per year, starting with Belknap and Carroll counties in the upcoming biennium, expanded from the Family Division’s "pilot" counties of Rockingham and Grafton counties. Thus, in the Bar News article, the fiscal impact of implementation of the Family Division statewide was understated. In the upcoming biennium, the estimated cost of expansion would be $46,830 in the next fiscal year, $161,538 in the second year and up to $384,761 by fiscal year 2007, if the two counties for the 2006-2007 are Cheshire and Coos, according to a fiscal note prepared by the judicial branch. However, this would account for expansion of the Family Division only to the state’s smaller counties, and does not include the cost of establishing the Family Division in the largest counties, Hillsborough and Merrimack. The bill also calls for a change to the process for appointing marital masters, proposing appointment by the governor with confirmation by the Executive Council for new masters or for renewal of existing masters’ contracts. At press time, HB 643-FN, sponsored by five House members and three senators, had had one hearing before the House Judiciary Committee at which no one spoke against the bill. If the House Judiciary Committee and the full House approve the bill, it would then return to the House Finance Committee for review of its impact on the budget, and would require another vote by the House, according to Howard J. Zibel, NH Supreme Court general counsel, who monitors legislative activity for the judicial branch. The Family Division was established as a pilot project in 1996.
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