New Hampshire
New Hampshire has no forensic science commission and no general crime lab accreditation statute; the Department of Safety runs the state forensic science laboratory. Expert testimony must meet a Daubert-style test written into both a statute and Rule 702. DNA is taken on conviction, not on arrest. Since July 1, 2024, state agencies may not use real-time remote facial recognition for surveillance in public spaces, except law enforcement with a warrant. Two laws take effect January 1, 2027: a person claiming innocence may seek a new trial past the 3-year deadline on evidence open to new forensic testing or new scientific understanding, and sexual assault survivors gain the right to have kits preserved free of charge for the limitations period or 20 years, whichever is longer.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Forensic Ledger
At a glance
- Oversight body
- No forensic science commission or independent lab oversight body found. “The commissioner of the department of safety may establish, equip, and operate a forensic science laboratory” to support enforcement of criminal, motor vehicle, hazardous waste and other public safety laws (RSA 106-B:2-a, 2003). The Division of State Police runs the DNA database (RSA 651-C:2, 651-C:3). The commissioner of safety has “exclusive authority for equipment testing, law enforcement training, and administration of grant programs relating to alcohol concentration tests” and adopts the testing rules (RSA 265-A:5, IV-V).
- Lab accreditation
- No general crime lab accreditation statute found. Two narrow requirements: any laboratory that tests a defendant’s additional (independent) blood or urine sample under RSA 265-A:7 must be “accredited by any nationally recognized accrediting body” (RSA 265-A:5, V(e); Saf-C 6403.01). A court ordering post-conviction DNA testing designates the state police forensic laboratory, but for good cause may order testing by another lab that conforms to ISO/IEC 17025, FBI quality assurance standards and forensic-specific requirements and is accredited by an ILAC signatory (RSA 651-D:2, IV(c)). Database DNA analysis must follow the federal DNA Identification Act of 1994 (RSA 651-C:2, II). The chapters searched were RSA 5-D, 21-M, 21-P, 105, 105-D, 106-B, 265-A, 318-B, 516, 592-A, 595-A, 651-B, 651-C, 651-D and 651-E and Saf-C 6300, 6400 and 7100; the full RSA was not searched.
- Analyst licensing
- None for forensic analysts. Under Saf-C 7104.02 (effective June 30, 2017, for breath tests on or after January 1, 2017), personnel certified by the commissioner under RSA 265-A:5, V are designated breath test instrument operators or recertifying supervisors; operators must be currently employed New Hampshire law enforcement officials. For blood and urine testing, “Division personnel shall be certified by the department of administrative services, division of personnel for the position classification requirements of laboratory scientist, criminalist, or toxicologist” (Saf-C 6402.14), a job classification rather than a professional license. A blood, urine or breath test is evidence only if done by methods the commissioner prescribes (RSA 265-A:5, IV).
- Admissibility standard
- Daubert-style, by statute and rule. RSA 516:29-a (2004) bars expert testimony unless the court finds it is based on sufficient facts or data, is the product of reliable principles and methods, and applies them reliably; the court considers testing, peer review, error rate and general acceptance. N.H. R. Ev. 702, as quoted in State v. Raymond, 2025 N.H. 30 (July 15, 2025), requires that “the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case,” the pre-2023 federal wording. Raymond was read from a CourtListener copy of the court’s PDF because courts.nh.gov blocked access. Court rule orders after that date could not be checked for the same reason, so it is not confirmed whether Rule 702 has been amended since; a CourtListener search found no later New Hampshire Supreme Court opinion citing Rule 702.
- Post-conviction forensic relief
- Not yet; yes from January 1, 2027. Until then, the only forensic-specific route is DNA testing, and a new-trial petition must be filed within three years of judgment. From that date, the 3-year limit does not apply to a person convicted of a felony or class A misdemeanor who is still under the sentence or its collateral consequences, claims innocence, and specifies newly discovered evidence, defined to include “evidence that can be subjected to new or additional forensic testing” and “evidence that can be subjected to new scientific understanding” (RSA 526:4, as amended by 2026 ch. 342; see below). RSA 651-D:2 is DNA-only. A person may petition “at any time after conviction” for forensic DNA testing, including “retesting with different DNA techniques,” and the testing must employ “a method generally accepted within the relevant scientific community.” After favorable results the court must hold a hearing and may vacate the judgment, discharge or resentence the petitioner, or grant a new trial (RSA 651-D:2).
- DNA database scope
- Conviction-based; no arrestee collection. A sample is taken “upon intake or prior to the release” of an offender convicted of a sexual offense or offense against a child (as defined in RSA 651-B:1) or “any other felony offense” under the law of New Hampshire, another state or the United States; of a person found not guilty by reason of insanity of those offenses; and of certain people committed after being found not competent to stand trial. The statute refers to juvenile offenders required to submit a sample before age 18. Knowingly refusing for 30 days after notice is a class A misdemeanor, and a certificate and the analysis results are admissible (RSA 651-C:2).
- Facial recognition
- Partial limits. Since July 1, 2024, state agencies, defined to include “law enforcement,” may not use “Real-time and remote biometric identification systems used for surveillance in public spaces, such as facial recognition, except by law enforcement with a warrant” (RSA 5-D:3, II). Body-worn camera recordings may not be subjected to “automated analysis or analytics of any kind, including but not limited to facial recognition technology,” except that a still image may be shared to help identify suspects (RSA 105-D:2, XII), and stored recordings may not be analyzed with facial recognition (RSA 105-D:2, XV). Whether RSA 5-D reaches municipal police is not stated; its definition covers entities “established in the state constitution, statutes, session laws or executive orders.”
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Department of Safety may create a sexual assault evidence shipping pilot with 7-business-day delivery to the state lab
The department of safety “may develop an evidence shipping pilot program” to speed delivery of evidence to the state forensic laboratory, with “special emphasis” on rural law enforcement. “In this pilot program,” all evidence collected by medical personnel in a New Hampshire sexual assault case is to reach the lab within 7 business days of collection. In-person delivery is preferred; otherwise police may use a common carrier with package tracking if they have a good-faith basis to expect delivery within 7 business days, and must hand the package to a carrier agent, not a drop box. The department must adopt rules under RSA 541-A. The act’s findings say the State already has a kit tracking system and that about 300 kits are collected a year.
For practitioners: The 7-day transfer rule applies only inside the pilot, and the pilot is optional. Whether the department adopted rules or started the pilot was not determined.
State agencies may not use real-time remote facial recognition in public spaces; law enforcement may with a warrant
New RSA chapter 5-D, “Use of Artificial Intelligence by State Agencies.” Prohibited uses include “Real-time and remote biometric identification systems used for surveillance in public spaces, such as facial recognition, except by law enforcement with a warrant” (5-D:3, II). An AI recommendation or decision that cannot be reversed once carried out must first be reviewed by a responsible human who knows the system’s limits; examples include limits on individual rights, “Biometric identification to verify the identity of an individual person,” and “Actions taken by law enforcement at the state and local levels” (5-D:4). Agencies had 9 months to review their AI systems and remove prohibited ones, and the Department of Information Technology reports yearly. Facial recognition used to unlock a smartphone is excepted (5-D:2).
For practitioners: If police used live facial recognition in a public place, ask for the warrant. The chapter does not expressly address searches of stored images after the fact.
Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass
- 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 342 (HB 1422), RSA 526:4: vetoed July 2, 2026; veto overridden August 19, 2026 (House 314-7, Senate 18-6); takes effect January 1, 2027 (§342:2). Before the act, RSA 526:4 said only that a new trial may not be granted unless the petition is filed within three years of judgment. The act adds that the limit does not apply if the petitioner was convicted of a felony or class A misdemeanor, is incarcerated, under sentence or subject to its collateral consequences, specifies the newly discovered evidence, and alleges innocence. “Newly discovered evidence” includes “evidence that can be subjected to new or additional forensic testing, evidence that can be subjected to new scientific understanding,” or evidence not available at trial. The court first decides whether the petition makes a prima facie showing; if it does, the court holds a hearing and appoints counsel for an indigent petitioner. The new-trial standard of RSA 526:1 (“accident, mistake or misfortune”) is unchanged, and “For DNA evidence, RSA 651-D shall be followed.” Duplicative petitions may be denied. Chapter 342
- 2026 N.H. Laws ch. 238 (HB 1651-FN), §238:2, RSA 21-M:18, I(b): signed July 2, 2026; takes effect January 1, 2027 (§238:3). A sexual assault survivor’s right to have a kit or its probative contents preserved without charge changes from the maximum applicable statute of limitations “or 20 years, whichever is shorter” to “whichever is longer.” A new right is added: to “Be informed of the status and location of a sexual assault evidence collection kit.” Until then, preservation can end at 20 years even where the limitations period is longer. The same act creates sexual assault protective orders (RSA 632-A:5-a). Chapter 238
- HB 1506 (2026), “creating an exception to the restricted uses of artificial intelligence by state agencies,” was referred for interim study by the House on March 11, 2026. The docket lists a committee work session on October 15, 2026 and an executive session on October 22, 2026. It has not been enacted (HB 1506).
Bills that did not pass:
- SB 657-FN (2026), “relative to the use of information technology and artificial intelligence systems by state agencies”: the Senate voted to nonconcur with the House amendment on May 21, 2026, with no later action (SB 657). HB 1725-FN (2026), “relative to the regulation of artificial intelligence technologies”: inexpedient to legislate, February 19, 2026.
- HB 1448-FN (2024), “requiring retention of a blood sample for the duration of a criminal case, including appeal”: inexpedient to legislate, February 22, 2024 (HB 1448).
- HB 378 (2023-2024) and HB 1633-FN (2026), “expanding the information provided to survivors of sexual assault regarding their existing rights”: indefinitely postponed in the Senate on May 22, 2024 and April 23, 2026.
Checked and unchanged
Statutes, rules, bill dockets and chaptered laws were read on gc.nh.gov on October 20, 2026. The New Hampshire Judicial Branch site, courts.nh.gov, refused automated access that day, so the one court opinion cited was read from CourtListener’s stored copy of the court-issued file. The text of all 1,273 laws enacted in the 2023 to 2026 sessions was searched for forensic terms. For 38 of them, all 2024 laws carried over from 2023 bills, gc.nh.gov has no bill text on file, so only their titles were screened.
- RSA 651-C (DNA database): last amended 2016 (eff. January 1, 2017). RSA 651-D (post-conviction DNA testing): last amended 2022 (eff. July 19, 2022). RSA 516:29-a: unchanged since 2004. RSA 106-B:2-a: unchanged since 2003.
- RSA 105-D (body-worn cameras): the recording rules in RSA 105-D:2 are unchanged since 2016; the only change since 2021 is 2025 ch. 266 (HB 118, eff. August 1, 2025), which repealed RSA 105-D:2-a, a commission on a statewide entity to receive law enforcement misconduct complaints. 2024 ch. 153 (SB 362) only asked the law enforcement accreditation commission for a report on copying and use of body-camera images. 2026 ch. 219 (HB 1236), effective January 1, 2027, lets county corrections departments use body-worn cameras “pursuant to RSA 105-D.”
- RSA 265-A:5 (alcohol concentration tests): the only 2023 to 2026 change is 2025 ch. 105, §5 (eff. June 17, 2025), which replaced “physician’s assistant” with “physician associate” in the list of people who may draw blood. Saf-C 6400 was last amended in 2018 and Saf-C 7100 in 2017.
- Out of scope: 2023 ch. 230 (SB 240), clinical genetic testing (RSA 141-H:2, IV); 2026 ch. 26 (SB 620), refusal of alcohol concentration testing and aggravated DWI penalties.
Last updated October 20, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “New Hampshire forensic science oversight: Forensic Ledger,” uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/new-hampshire (last updated October 20, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.