SB 667 New Hampshire Senate · 2026 Regular Session

relative to the assault of emergency room personnel.

SB 667 amends New Hampshire assault laws to specifically address violence against emergency room personnel. It adds new provisions making it a first-degree assault (RSA 631:1, I(e)) to knowingly cause serious bodily injury to ER staff acting in their duties, and a second-degree assault (RSA 631:2, I(g)) to knowingly cause bodily injury to them. The bill defines "emergency room personnel" broadly to include all hospital ER staff and volunteers providing public services, such as doctors, nurses, clerks, technicians, students, and volunteers. This law directly affects individuals who assault ER workers and increases penalties for such acts by classifying them as specific assault offenses. The bill is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2027.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jul 2026

Introduced Feb 4, 2026 Signed Jul 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Version adopted by both bodies → CHAPTERED FINAL VERSION · 3 edits

MINOR

The changes between the version adopted by both bodies and the chaptered final version are entirely technical and administrative. The bill was assigned Chapter 277, sections were renumbered accordingly (1→277:1, 2→277:2, 3→277:3), the fiscal note was removed, and an approval date of July 2, 2026 was added. No substantive policy changes were made.

TECHNICAL

Sections were renumbered from sequential bill numbers (1, 2, 3) to chapter-based numbers (277:1, 277:2, 277:3) as is standard when a bill becomes law.

The fiscal note section (estimating state and local government financial impact) was removed, as it is legislative process documentation not included in the final chaptered statute.

TIMELINE

An approval date of July 2, 2026 was added to the final version, confirming when the governor signed the bill into law.

Introduced → Version adopted by both bodies · 5 edits

MODERATE

The adopted version of SB 667 significantly changed the bill's focus. The introduced version added assault provisions related to miscarriage/stillbirth, injury to children under 13, and strangulation. The adopted version instead adds new first-degree and second-degree assault provisions specifically protecting law enforcement officers, firefighters (paid, volunteer, and on-call), and licensed emergency medical care providers from assault while acting in the line of duty.

Scope change

The bill shifted from addressing assault related to pregnancy outcomes, child victims, and strangulation to specifically targeting assaults against law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical care providers, expanding the categories of protected persons for first-degree and second-degree assault charges.

SCOPE

Removed the introduced provision making it first-degree assault to purposely or knowingly cause injury resulting in miscarriage or stillbirth, and to knowingly or recklessly cause serious bodily injury to a person under 13 years of age.

Removed the introduced provisions making it second-degree assault to recklessly or negligently cause injury resulting in miscarriage or stillbirth, and to purposely or knowingly engage in strangulation of another.

Added a new first-degree assault provision (RSA 631:1, I(e)) for knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a law enforcement officer, paid firefighter, volunteer firefighter, on-call firefighter, or licensed emergency medical care provider acting in the line of duty, or against a law enforcement officer whether or not on duty where the purpose was to harm because of their employment.

Added a new second-degree assault provision (RSA 631:2, I(g)) for knowingly causing bodily injury to the same categories of first responders and emergency medical personnel under the same conditions.

TECHNICAL

Renumbered existing emergency room personnel provisions from I(e) to I(f) in first-degree assault and from I(g) to I(h) in second-degree assault to accommodate the new subsections.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jul 9, 2026

Signed into law

Signed by the Governor on 07/02/2026; Chapter 277; Effective 01/01/2027

upper

Jun 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Enrolled Bill Amendment # 2026-2133e Adopted, VV, (In recess of 06/04/2026); SJ 14

upper

Jun 10, 2026

Introduced

Enrolled Bill Amendment # 2026-2133e: AA VV (in recess of) 06/04/2026 HJ 15

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

Ought to Pass: MA DV 179-173 05/14/2026 HJ 13 P. 39

lower

May 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Minority Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-1760h

lower

May 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Majority Committee Report: Ought to Pass 04/24/2026 (Vote 10-3; RC) HC 19 P. 19

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Introduced (in recess of) 03/12/2026 and referred to Criminal Justice and Public Safety HJ 8 P. 115

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Ought to Pass: MA, VV; OT3rdg; 03/12/2026; SJ 6

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Sen. McGough Moved Ought to Pass; 03/12/2026; SJ 6

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

Committee Report: Referred to Interim Study, 03/12/2026; Vote 4-1; CC; SC 9

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Introduced

Introduced 01/29/2026 and Referred to Judiciary; SJ 3

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors