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HB1044 • 2026

relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Len Turcotte (R), Susan DeRoy (R), Kelley Potenza (R), Claudine Burnham (R), Michael Harrington (R), Michael Granger (R), Glenn Bailey (R), Aidan Ankarberg (I), James Gray (R), David Walker (R), Samuel Farrington (R)
Last action
2026-05-12
Official status
SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

What This Bill Does

  • relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment #2026-0069h : AA VV 02/05/2026 HJ 3 P. 13

Plain English: Amendment #2026-0069h : AA VV 02/05/2026 HJ 3 P. 13 1

  • The official amendment file could not be read automatically during the last sync, so only the official amendment metadata is shown right now.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-12 H

    Signed by Governor Ayotte 05/08/2026; Chapter 48; eff. 07/07/2026

  2. 2026-04-28 S

    Enrolled Adopted, VV, (In recess 04/23/2026); SJ 11

  3. 2026-04-09 H

    House Concurs with Senate Amendment 2026-1205s (Rep. Pauer): MA VV 04/09/2026 HJ 10 P. 8

  4. 2026-03-20 S

    Committee Amendment #2026-1205s , AA, VV; 03/26/2026; SJ 7

  5. 2026-03-20 S

    Ought to Pass with Amendment #2026-1205s , MA, VV; OT3rdg; 03/26/2026; SJ 7

  6. 2026-03-18 S

    Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment #2026-1205s , 03/26/2026; Vote 5-0; CC; SC 11

  7. 2026-03-04 S

    Hearing: 03/10/2026, Room 122-123, SH, 10:00 am; SC 9

  8. 2026-02-09 S

    Introduced 02/05/2026 and Referred to Election Law and Municipal Affairs; SJ 4

  9. 2026-02-05 H

    Amendment #2026-0069h : AA VV 02/05/2026 HJ 3 P. 13

  10. 2026-02-05 H

    Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-0069h: MA VV 02/05/2026 HJ 3 P. 13

  11. 2026-01-29 H

    Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment #2026-0069h 01/20/2026 (Vote 18-0; CC) HC 5 P. 10

  12. 2026-01-22 H

    Executive Session: 01/13/2026 10:00 am GP 154

  13. 2026-01-08 H

    Public Hearing: 01/13/2026 10:00 am GP 154

  14. 2025-11-07 H

    Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Municipal and County Government HJ 1 P. 3

Official Summary Text

relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
CHAPTER 48
HB 1044 - FINAL VERSION

5Feb2026... 0069h
03/26/2026 1205s
2026 SESSION
26-2403
08/06

HOUSE BILL
1044

AN ACT
relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

SPONSORS: Rep. Turcotte, Straf. 4; Rep. Burnham, Straf. 2; Rep. Bailey, Straf. 2; Rep. Walker, Straf. 19; Rep. DeRoy, Straf. 3; Rep. Harrington, Straf. 18; Rep. Ankarberg, Straf. 7; Rep. Farrington, Straf. 8; Rep. Potenza, Straf. 19; Rep. Granger, Straf. 2; Sen. Gray, Dist 6

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill requires a vacancy in the office of county commissioner to be filled by the members of the county convention and allows district-based voting where applicable.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in
bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [
in brackets and struckthrough.
]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
5Feb2026... 0069h
03/26/2026 1205s 26-2403
08/06

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT
relative to the filling of vacancies in the office of a county commissioner.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

48:1 County Officers; Vacancies. RSA 661:9, II is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
II.(a) If a vacancy occurs in the office of a county commissioner, the members of the county convention shall fill the vacancy as follows:
(1) If voting for the commissioners in the biennial election is not by district or is not restricted to residents of the district, all of the county convention members shall vote to fill the vacancy by a majority of the ballots cast until the next biennial election of county officers.
(2) If the commissioners of the county in the biennial elections are elected by district and voting for the commissioner is restricted to residents of the district, only members of the county convention who represent city wards or towns in the district shall be eligible to vote.
(3) If limiting the vote to county convention members representing city wards and towns in the district results in fewer than 3 members eligible to vote for the vacancy, all members of the county convention are eligible to vote for the vacancy.
(4) If the term filled is less than the unexpired term, then notwithstanding any provisions of RSA 653:1, VI, the commissioner district filled pursuant to this paragraph shall be added to the next biennial election ballot to be chosen by the voters of the county for the remainder of the term. The person elected shall take office at the next meeting of the county commissioners after any recount is completed.
(b) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall apply only where the vacancy occurred no later than 30 days preceding the printing of the ballots for the primary election.
(c) The provisions of RSA 655:32 and RSA 655:37, relating to nominations by appropriate party committees for vacancies in an office on a primary or general election ballot, respectively, shall apply to vacancies to be filled under this paragraph.

48:2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Approved: May 08, 2026
Effective Date: July 07, 2026