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Melissa Beth Countway
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2024 - Present
2041
1
Melissa Beth Countway is a judge of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. She assumed office on January 2, 2024. Her current term ends on July 18, 2041.
Countway was nominated to the New Hampshire Supreme Court by Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on November 8, 2023, to succeed Justice Gary Hicks. She was confirmed to the court by the New Hampshire Executive Council in a vote on December 20, 2023.[1] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
Biography
Education
She received a bachelor's degree in 1993 followed by a master's degree in 1994 from University of New Hampshire. She received a J.D. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[2]
Career
Countway served as the Belknap County Attorney from 2011 to 2017. In 2017 she became a New Hampshire Circuit Courts judge.[3]
Appointments
2023
Governor Chris Sununu (R) appointed Melissa Beth Countway to the New Hampshire Supreme Court on November 8, 2023 to succeed Justice Gary Hicks. Her nomination was confirmed by the New Hampshire Executive Council on December 21, 2023.[4] Countway will serve until July 18, 2041, when she will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.[1]
Countway replaces Justice Gary Hicks, who retired on November 30, 2023, due to reaching the court's mandatory retirement age. His replacement was Governor Sununu's (R) fifth nominee to the five-member supreme court.
In New Hampshire, state supreme court justices are selected through direct gubernatorial appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the governor without the use of a nominating commission.[5] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.
Vacancies on the court are filled through gubernatorial appointment. A judicial selection commission recommends candidates to the governor, the governor selects a candidate, and the candidate must be confirmed by the Executive Council.[6]
State supreme court judicial selection in New Hampshire
- See also: Judicial selection in New Hampshire
The five justices on the New Hampshire Supreme Court are selected by gubernatorial appointment. The governor's nominee must be confirmed by the New Hampshire Executive Council.[7][8] The five members of the executive council are chosen every two years in partisan elections.[9] As of April 2023, it had been customary since 2000 for the governor to establish a judicial selection commission by executive order to seek out, evaluate, and recommend candidates for nomination.[10][11]
Justices may serve on the court until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70.[12]
Qualifications
State law does not stipulate any particular qualifications for appointment to the supreme court.[6]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by gubernatorial appointment. The position of chief justice is a specific seat on the court rather than a temporary leadership position.[13][6]
Vacancies
Vacancies on the court are filled through gubernatorial appointment. A judicial selection commission recommends candidates to the governor, the governor selects a candidate, and the candidate must be confirmed by the Executive Council.[6] There is one current vacancy on the New Hampshire Supreme Court, out of the court's five judicial positions. The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 New Hampshire Judicial Branch, "Melissa Beth Countway Sworn In as 110th Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court," January 2, 2024 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "nomination" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ New Hampshire Judicial Branch, "Associate Justice Melissa Countway," accessed January 8, 2024
- ↑ New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, "Governor Chris Sununu Nominates Melissa Beth Countway to New Hampshire Supreme Court," November 8, 2023
- ↑ The Telegraph, "Countway confirmed to New Hampshire Supreme Court; Laconia land deal delayed," December 21, 2023
- ↑ Note: In New Hampshire, a judicial selection commission has been established by executive order. The commission's recommendations are not binding.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: New Hampshire | Selection of Judges," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ New Hampshire Judicial Branch, "About the Supreme Court," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ NH.gov, "State Constitution - Executive Power - Governor," accessed August 24, 2021 (Article 46)
- ↑ State of New Hampshire Executive Council, "About Us," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Judicial Selection in the States: New Hampshire | Overview," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ New Hampshire Secretary of State, "Executive order 2000-9: An order establishing a Judicial Selection Commission," June 30, 2000
- ↑ The General Court of New Hampshire, "New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated Title LI," accessed August 24, 2021 (Section 493:2)
- ↑ While a 2001 law amended Section 490:1 of the New Hampshire Revised Statutes to make the chief justice position a rotating position based on seniority, the New Hampshire Supreme Court found this law to be unconstitutional in 2004.
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Hampshire • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Hampshire
State courts:
New Hampshire Supreme Court • New Hampshire Superior Courts • New Hampshire Circuit Courts • New Hampshire Probate Courts • New Hampshire District Court • New Hampshire Family Division
State resources:
Courts in New Hampshire • New Hampshire judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Hampshire
