CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Monday appointed a bipartisan group of legal, law enforcement and business leaders to help him select judges.
Sununu, a Republican who was elected in November, issued an executive order creating a judicial selection commission. It will be led by attorney Chuck Douglas, a former Republican congressman and former state Supreme Court justice.
At least four of the last five governors created similar commissions. The group’s recommendations aren’t binding, but Sununu said they will serve as an invaluable resource. He previously served on the governor’s Executive Council, which approves judicial nominations and state contracts.
“We have a good system here in New Hampshire when you look at things in a bipartisan manner, when you look at things not just across the aisle but through the different industries, whether it be getting the advice of existing lawyers, former judges, business leaders, whatever it might be,” Sununu said. “We’re a small state, but we’re very diverse, we have a lot of needs. So … just putting your political friends in there, that’s just not the way we do things in New Hampshire.”
New Hampshire’s Constitution requires judges to retire at age 70. One of the five state Supreme Court justices - Justice Carol Ann Conboy - will reach that age this summer, but Sununu said his immediate priority is filling vacancies on lower courts, where about 60 judges hear approximately 200,000 cases each year.
The vice chair of the commission will be attorney Jack Sanders. Other members are Merrimack County Sheriff Scott Hillard, former House Speaker Donna Sytek, attorney Bobbie Hantz, New Hampshire Legal Assistance Director Lynn Parker, Coos Economic Development Corp. Director Mike Scala, Nashua business owner Jack Tulley and Manchester businessman Matt Kfoury.
According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, 32 states require some or all of their judges to retire at a certain age. In November, Oregon voters rejected a measure to repeal their mandatory judicial retirement age. In Pennsylvania, voters approved a constitutional amendment that will let judges remain on the bench until the end of the year in which they turn 75, five years longer than previously allowed.
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