NH State Courts face normal case load with 20 fewer judges

April 30, 2012

Concrod, New Hampshire: The New Hampshire State Courts are confronting a normal year's case load with 20 fewer judges on the bench in 2012. The reduction in judges on the bench comes from a combination of vacancies and a reduction of 4 judges to the Superior Court budget for the 2012 year. The 16 total vacancies come from one Supreme Court vacancy, seven Circuit Court seats, one Superior Court seat and seven part-time judicial posts, leaving only 83 judges and masters to handle the states case load. The State Judicial Nomination Commission plans to address the vacancies, first at the Superior Court level, then the Circuit Court vacancies and ultimately the part time positions. The commission has already forwarded recommendations to the Governor to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. However, members of the Commission have expressed concern over the phasing out of the Marital Masters program in the courts. The Masters currently oversee most divorce cases in the courts. As those positions go vacant, Circuit Court judges will be required to pick up the slack. Phil Waystack, chairman of the state Judicial Nomination Commission, told the press “As long as the marital masters keep going, that’s OK.”

See also

• New Hampshire Supreme Court
• New Hampshire Superior Courts
• New Hampshire Circuit Courts

External links

• Nashua Telegraph, "More benches empty lately in state’s courts" April 23, 2012