HB 1087 New Hampshire House · 2026 Regular Session

relative to citizen's arrests by private persons.

HB 1087 allows private citizens in New Hampshire to make arrests for specific crimes they witness or have reasonable belief about, directly affecting anyone who might witness a crime. It permits arrests for felonies seen in person, misdemeanors involving a breach of peace seen in person, or felonies with probable cause, but prohibits entering homes for misdemeanor arrests and requires using only reasonable force. The bill mandates that arrestors immediately notify police, inform the person being arrested, and release them to law enforcement without delay. It grants legal immunity for good-faith arrests meeting these conditions, but not for gross negligence or reckless actions, while directing the Department of Safety to educate the public about the rules.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Dec 1, 2025 Last action Feb 19, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
5
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Feb 9, 2026
Committee
Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate 02/04/2026 (Vote 13-0; CC) HC 7 P. 6
lower
Dec 1, 2025
Introduced
Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Criminal Justice and Public Safety HJ 1 P. 5
lower
0 primary · 7 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.