relative to the use of body-worn cameras in county departments of corrections.
HB 1236 requires law enforcement to electronically record all police questioning of individuals in custody (custodial interrogations) in New Hampshire. Unrecorded statements from such interrogations would generally be excluded as evidence in criminal or juvenile court cases, unless police provide a documented, reasonable justification for not recording. The bill creates a clear rule: recordings must be complete, and unrecorded statements are inadmissible unless courts approve specific justifications. It takes effect January 1, 2027, impacting police departments, defendants, and courts.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
May 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
May 2026
Signed into Law
Jul 2026
Introduced Dec 1, 2025
Signed Jul 10, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
Version adopted by both bodies
→
CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION
·
3 edits
MINOR
No substantive policy changes were made. The bill was formally chaptered as Chapter 219, which involved updating section numbers to include the chapter prefix (e.g., '1' became '219:1'), removing the internal fiscal note, and adding the governor's approval date and effective date. These are standard administrative steps that occur when a bill is enrolled and signed into law.
TECHNICAL
Section numbers were updated from generic numbering (1, 2) to chapter-specific numbering (219:1, 219:2) to reflect the bill's assignment as Chapter 219.
The fiscal note (internal budget impact analysis) was removed, which is standard when a bill transitions from a legislative draft to an enacted law.
TIMELINE
The governor's approval date (July 02, 2026) and effective date (January 01, 2027) were added as formal record of enactment.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
15
Key actions
6
Committee
5
Amendments
2
Jul 10, 2026
Signed into law
Signed by Governor Ayotte 07/02/2026; Chapter 219; eff. 1/1/2027
lower
May 21, 2026
Introduced
House Concurs with Senate Amendment 2026-1768s (Rep. Roy): MA DV 191-154 05/21/2026 HJ 14 P. 2
lower
May 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-1768s, MA, VV; OT3rdg; 05/07/2026; SJ 11
upper
May 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee Amendment # 2026-1768s, AA, VV; 05/07/2026; SJ 11
upper
Apr 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-1768s, 05/07/2026; Vote 5-0; CC; SC 17
upper
Apr 1, 2026
Introduced
Hearing: 04/07/2026, Room 100, SH, 01:15 pm, on proposed non-germane amendment # 2026-1224s; SC 13
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Introduced
Introduced 03/05/2026 and Referred to Judiciary; SJ 6
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Ought to Pass: MA VV 03/05/2026 HJ 6 P. 5
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Report: Ought to Pass 02/13/2026 (Vote 11-2; CC) HC 9 P. 5
lower
Dec 1, 2025
Introduced
Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Criminal Justice and Public Safety HJ 1 P. 11
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Buzz Scherr
DDemocratic
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