HB 1173 New Hampshire House · 2026 Regular Session

relative to post-secondary education opportunities for inmates.

HB 1173 allows New Hampshire's commissioner of corrections to release inmates from state prison at any time during their sentence to attend community college or university programs for which they've been accepted. This directly affects incarcerated individuals in New Hampshire state prisons who are accepted into post-secondary education. The bill requires the commissioner to notify the sentencing court and prosecutor before release, who may object within 10 days; if objected to, a court hearing determines approval. Time spent in education outside prison counts fully toward the inmate's sentence, and the commissioner may recall the inmate if community safety is threatened.
Bill status failed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Dec 1, 2025 Last action Apr 21, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
9
Key actions
2
Committee
3
Apr 17, 2026
Committee
Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate; Vote 5-0; CC; 04/23/2026; SC 15A
upper
Mar 17, 2026
Introduced
Introduced 03/12/2026 and Referred to Judiciary; SJ 7
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Ought to Pass: MA VV 03/11/2026 HJ 7 P. 15
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Report: Ought to Pass 01/29/2026 (Vote 12-0; CC) HC 10 P. 10
lower
Dec 1, 2025
Introduced
Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Criminal Justice and Public Safety HJ 1 P. 9
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors