← All States

State Reform Profile

New Hampshire

New Hampshire decriminalized marijuana and expanded drug courts as part of a broader opioid crisis response.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE79/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
201
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$42K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
52%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
4.2×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
20
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
6
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

NH Overall201
National Avg568
Black (est.)507
White (est.)88

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

52%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$42K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

3 initiatives

HB 640 – Marijuana DecrimView full details →

Decriminalized small amounts of marijuana.

PassedDrug Policy2017
AltReform Score75/100

Drug Court System ExpansionView full details →

Expanded drug courts to all 10 counties as part of opioid response.

ActiveDrug Policy2018
AltReform Score80/100

Stepping Up InitiativeView full details →

Reduced mental health crisis arrests through pre-arrest diversion.

ActiveMental Health2019
AltReform Score82/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

Want to analyze a specific reform proposal for New Hampshire?

Open The Policy Studio™ →