Under RSA 625:9, New Hampshire divides felonies into three tiers: Class A, Class B, and special or unclassified felonies. The class assigned to a charge sets the judge’s statutory ceiling for punishment and shapes almost everything that follows, from bail arguments to plea negotiations.
Here’s the fast version:
- Class A felony: maximum imprisonment may be up to 15 years according to statute.
- Class B felony: maximum imprisonment is limited by statute to no more than 7 years.
- Special/unclassified felonies: murder, manslaughter, and certain sex and drug offenses have their own sentencing arrangements, which can include life imprisonment.
Class matters because it determines your sentencing exposure, whether the disciplinary-period add-on applies to a prison term, and how many years must pass before you can petition to annul the conviction from your record.
Key Takeaways
New Hampshire classifies felonies as Class A, Class B, or special/unclassified under RSA 625:9, and that classification sets the statutory sentencing ceiling a judge works within.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Classification is statutory | RSA 625:9 sets Class A at maximums over 7 years and Class B at 1 to 7 years; the offense statute itself sets the class. |
| Sentencing ceilings, not sentences | Class A tops out at 15 years and Class B at 7 years under RSA 651, but judicial discretion decides the actual term. |
| Special felonies stand apart | Murder, manslaughter, and certain aggravated sex or drug crimes follow their own penalty scheme outside the A/B system. |
| Annulment timing varies by class | Waiting periods commonly cited run roughly 10 years for Class A and roughly 5 years for Class B after sentence completion. |
| Firearm loss applies to both classes | Federal law bars firearm possession after any felony conviction, regardless of Class A or Class B status. |
This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.
Table of Contents
- Understanding felony levels NH: how RSA 625:9 classifies crimes
- How NH sentencing works under RSA 651: maximums, fines, and enhancements
- Special felonies: murder, manslaughter, and offenses that break the pattern
- Statute of limitations, criminal records, and annulment timing
- What to do after a felony arrest in New Hampshire
- Civil rights and a felony conviction in New Hampshire
- Finding legal help for a felony charge in New Hampshire
- The gap between knowing your class and knowing your risk
- Sources
- FAQ
Understanding felony levels NH: how RSA 625:9 classifies crimes
New Hampshire doesn’t leave felony classification up to a judge’s gut instinct. RSA 625:9 spells out the test in plain statutory terms, and the class attaches automatically once you know the maximum penalty tied to the offense.
The rule is arithmetic, not discretion:
- If the maximum authorized sentence exceeds seven years, it’s a Class A felony.
- If the maximum is more than one year but no more than seven years, it’s a Class B felony.
- Corporate offenses that don’t fit the individual sentencing structure are “unclassified” felonies, and murder sits entirely outside the class system with its own penalty scheme.
Whoever wrote the specific criminal statute, whether that’s the burglary law or the drug trafficking law, already built the maximum penalty into the offense definition. That maximum tells you the class. A prosecutor doesn’t get to argue a burglary “up” to Class A, and a judge can’t classify a drug sale down to a misdemeanor once the statute sets its ceiling above seven years.
Certain statutory triggers reliably push a charge into Class A territory: serious bodily injury or use of a deadly weapon during the offense, trafficking quantities of a controlled substance rather than simple possession, and repeat convictions for the same category of crime. The New Hampshire Judicial Branch’s definitions page confirms this same two-tier structure and is worth bookmarking if you want the court system’s own plain-language explanation. For a broader primer on where the felony line starts, see this firm’s breakdown of misdemeanor versus felony charges.
How NH sentencing works under RSA 651: maximums, fines, and enhancements
Knowing your felony class tells you the ceiling. It doesn’t tell you what a judge will actually impose, and that gap is where cases get won or lost.
RSA 651:2 sets the framework: a Class A felony carries up to 15 years in prison and a fine up to $4,000 for an individual defendant. A Class B felony tops out at 7 years, with the same $4,000 fine cap absent a statute specifying otherwise. Those numbers are ceilings, not sentences, and New Hampshire’s indeterminate sentencing model gives judges real room to move within them.
Several things can push a sentence toward that ceiling or past it:
- Extended terms: available when the statute or specific aggravating findings, like a defendant’s status as a habitual offender, justify a longer sentence than the standard maximum.
- Mandatory minimums: certain offenses, particularly those involving firearms or repeat convictions, carry a floor the judge cannot sentence below.
- Disciplinary periods: state prison sentences typically come with an add-on period tied to institutional conduct, affecting when parole eligibility actually kicks in.
Because New Hampshire lacks a rigid sentencing grid, two people convicted of the identical Class B felony can walk away with very different outcomes. The Robina Institute’s analysis of New Hampshire sentencing practices found that judicial discretion, not a formula, drives most of that variation. Probation, home confinement, and suspended sentences also remain on the table for many Class B cases, depending heavily on the facts and the defendant’s record.
Special felonies: murder, manslaughter, and offenses that break the pattern
Not every serious NH crime fits neatly into Class A or Class B. Murder sits completely outside the classification system. It carries penalties up to life imprisonment set by its own statute rather than the general felony scheme. Manslaughter, aggravated felonious sexual assault, and certain high-quantity drug trafficking offenses follow a similar pattern: the legislature wrote a dedicated penalty structure for them instead of routing them through the standard Class A or B ceiling.
Drug cases illustrate this well. The same underlying substance can produce wildly different exposure depending on quantity and prior record; simple possession might be a misdemeanor or low-level felony, while trafficking weight pushes the charge into special-felony territory with its own mandatory sentencing provisions.
A few rough examples for orientation:
- Simple assault with a weapon: often Class B.
- Burglary of an occupied residence: frequently Class A.
- Aggravated felonious sexual assault: special felony, high statutory maximum.
- Manslaughter: special felony, distinct sentencing scheme.
- Drug trafficking (large quantity): special felony provisions may apply.
Criminaldefenselawyer offers additional real-world examples worth reviewing if you’re trying to place a specific charge.
Statute of limitations, criminal records, and annulment timing
Most New Hampshire felonies must be charged within a set window after the alleged offense, though the specifics vary by crime. Murder has no statute of limitations at all, and offenses involving sexual assault of a minor typically carry extended windows that can run well beyond the general felony timeline.
Once a conviction is on your record, the class you were convicted under determines how long you’ll likely wait before you can even ask a court to erase it. Sources tracking New Hampshire annulment practice commonly cite roughly a 10 year waiting period for Class A felonies and roughly 5 years for Class B felonies after completing your sentence, according to LegalClarity’s summary of New Hampshire felony penalties. Annulment isn’t automatic. It’s a petition process with statutory conditions, and a judge can deny it even after the waiting period passes.
Pro Tip: Don’t assume your annulment eligibility date based on internet research alone. Confirm the exact statutory conditions with counsel, since a subsequent arrest or an unpaid fine can reset or block your petition entirely.
A felony conviction also creates collateral consequences well beyond the sentence itself, including immigration status, professional licensing, and employment background checks. Anyone facing those downstream effects should talk to an attorney before entering a plea, not after.
What to do after a felony arrest in New Hampshire
The first 48 hours after an arrest shape the entire case. Here’s the realistic sequence:
- Say nothing beyond identifying information until you have a lawyer present. Anything said at arraignment or during booking can surface later as evidence.
- Request counsel immediately, whether that’s a retained attorney or a public defender. Waiting even a few days lets prosecutors lock in a narrative before your side gets investigated.
- Address bail early. Judges weigh flight risk and community ties, and having an attorney argue for reasonable conditions at the first hearing often matters more than any later motion. For background on how bail decisions get made, Caesar Bail Bonds’ explanation of bail in felony cases walks through the practical mechanics.
- Preserve discovery and evidence before memories fade or footage gets overwritten, which is where independent investigation pays off.
Felony class shapes strategy from day one. A Class B charge with no aggravating factors might warrant an aggressive push for a reduced plea; a Class A charge with mandatory-minimum exposure often calls for a harder look at suppression motions or trial.
Granite Criminal Defense has spent more than 30 years in New Hampshire courtrooms building exactly this kind of case work, running independent investigations rather than relying solely on the prosecution’s file, and developing mitigation evidence that speaks directly to a judge’s discretion under the state’s indeterminate sentencing model. Given how much that discretion matters, as the Robina Institute’s research on New Hampshire sentencing patterns confirms, the quality of your mitigation case often carries as much weight as the underlying facts.
The realistic timeline: engage counsel within days of arrest, expect several pretrial hearings and possible motion practice over the following months, and understand that sentencing, if it comes to that, happens only after the judge has heard both the state’s position and your mitigation case.
Civil rights and a felony conviction in New Hampshire
A felony conviction strips certain civil rights regardless of whether it’s Class A or Class B. Federal law bars anyone convicted of a felony from possessing a firearm, and that prohibition applies equally across both classes; there’s no lighter version of the gun ban for a Class B conviction versus a Class A one.
Voting rights work differently. New Hampshire restores voting rights automatically once someone is no longer incarcerated for the felony, meaning someone on probation or parole in NH can generally vote, unlike some other states that extend disenfranchisement through the entire sentence. This makes New Hampshire’s approach to voting rights notably less punitive than the felony firearm restriction, which persists indefinitely absent a specific restoration process.
Where class does matter more directly is annulment, and annulment is the path back to firearm rights in many cases. Since Class B felonies carry the roughly 5 year annulment waiting period compared to roughly 10 years for Class A, a Class B conviction generally offers a faster route toward petitioning to restore rights lost to the conviction. That’s not guaranteed relief. Firearm rights restoration after annulment involves its own separate legal analysis, and federal law doesn’t always follow state annulment automatically.
Jury service and certain professional licenses also get affected by a felony record, often in ways that outlast the sentence itself and require an annulment or a separate waiver process to resolve.
Finding legal help for a felony charge in New Hampshire
You have options beyond hoping a public defender has room on their caseload. New Hampshire’s public defender program is available to defendants who meet income eligibility requirements, and the court determines that eligibility at arraignment based on a financial affidavit. If you don’t qualify financially or want dedicated attention from day one, retaining private counsel is the alternative most defendants facing serious Class A exposure choose.
The stakes of that choice scale with the class of felony. A Class B charge with a cooperative prosecutor might resolve through negotiation with limited court appearances. A Class A charge carrying a 15 year maximum, or a special felony with mandatory minimums, demands the kind of independent investigation and motion practice that a heavily loaded public defender caseload often can’t accommodate to the same depth a private firm can.
Granite Criminal Defense represents clients across the full range of New Hampshire felony charges, from drug crimes and assault to gun charges and domestic violence allegations, and offers bilingual English and Spanish representation for defendants who need it. The firm’s felony defense practice page outlines the specific charge types handled and what an initial consultation covers. Related resources, including guidance on domestic violence charges and misdemeanor defense, cover adjacent situations that sometimes overlap with felony cases.
If you’re facing a felony charge in New Hampshire right now, the single most useful thing you can do is talk to a defense attorney before your next court date, not after. Contact Granite Criminal Defense to discuss your specific charge and what the classification actually means for your exposure.
The gap between knowing your class and knowing your risk
Most people who search for New Hampshire’s felony classes want a number: how many years, how big a fine. That’s fair, and the statutes give you clean answers on that front. But treating the class as your sentence is where I see people misjudge their own situation. RSA 625:9 sets a ceiling. RSA 651 sets the mechanics for reaching or avoiding it. Neither one tells you what actually happens in your specific courtroom, in front of your specific judge, with your specific record.
The conventional advice, look up your charge, find its class, assume the maximum, undersells how much room exists within New Hampshire’s indeterminate sentencing structure. Two Class B defendants with identical charges can leave court with radically different outcomes based entirely on what mitigation evidence got developed before sentencing. That’s not a loophole. It’s how the system is designed to work, and it’s exactly why early investigation matters more than most defendants realize until it’s too late to build.
If there’s one thing worth prioritizing over everything else in this article, it’s timing. Get counsel involved before the narrative of your case hardens, not after.
Sources
- Section 625:9 Classification of Crimes — New Hampshire Revised Statutes
- Definitions – Criminal | New Hampshire Judicial Branch
- New Hampshire felony levels, classes and penalties — LegalClarity
FAQ
What is considered a Class A or Class B felony in NH?
A Class A felony carries a maximum sentence exceeding 7 years, up to 15 years under RSA 651:2, while a Class B felony carries a maximum of more than 1 year but no more than 7 years under RSA 625:9.
What are some examples of Class A felonies in New Hampshire?
Common examples include burglary of an occupied dwelling, serious assault involving a deadly weapon, and certain repeat drug trafficking offenses, since these typically carry maximum penalties exceeding 7 years.
How long does a felony stay on your record in NH?
A felony stays on your record indefinitely unless annulled. Waiting periods commonly cited before you can petition are roughly 10 years for Class A felonies and roughly 5 years for Class B felonies after completing your sentence, according to practitioner summaries of New Hampshire penalties.
What is a special felony in NH?
A special or unclassified felony is an offense with its own dedicated sentencing scheme outside the standard Class A and Class B structure, including murder, manslaughter, and certain aggravated sexual assault or drug trafficking charges.
