Probate Courts handle a lot of different kinds of cases.
Guardianship of minors and adults, adoptions, estates.
11:35 we also do name changes. You wanna have your name changed? Come to us, give us $80, fill out a form, see the judge for five minutes and you can be anybody you want to be.
That’s Merrimack County register Jane Bradstreet.
She’s been on the job for nine years.
By Probate Register standards, Bradstreet is a baby.
Of the ten registers, one in each county, six others have more seniority.
That’s one of the surprising aspects to the job, often people who get the job keep the job.
Just ask Sullivan County Register Diane Davis.
5:55 I’ve been register for 25 years. And I worked in the office about ten years before that. I started working in the office in 1972.
She was 17.
So how does the 35 year veteran sum up her responsibilities....she says....she takes care of paper.
4:09 I am like a clerk, like a clerk of the Superior Court. I answer the phone. I wait on people at the counter. I schedule hearings. I am in court. I schedule hearings. I do everything clerically in the office.
The register of the probate court is an unusual position in New Hampshire.
No other court clerk is elected in the state.
Back in the 19th century, in an effort curb cronyism, lawmakers amended the constitution so newly chosen politicians couldn’t sweep out the registers in favor of friends.
Over the past 20 years, multiple constitutional amendments to hire rather than elect registers have failed.
The most recent bill to die was last year.
The Probate Court is strongly considering re-introducing the measure in the upcoming session.
For the first time since 1990, five of the ten races are contested.
Coos County Register Terri Peterson says if those incumbents get knocked out, courts are going to suffer.
She says the two year terms don’t give registers enough time to learn the position.
18:04...if there say is an incumbent you have an incumbent that has a long history and the knowledge, they lose the election and somebody else comes in. Just creates for a little bit of upheaval in the flow of the running of the office.
Peterson says getting a new register up to speed, means a court assistant will have the awkward task of breaking in their new, better paid boss.
On top of concerns over turnover, retired head of the Probate Court, Judge John Maher, says he’s had problems getting registers to do what they were supposed to do.
4:11...A frequent response was ‘you doidn’t elect me, the people elected me. I report to them, I don’t report to you.’...it doesn’t set a good management structure, or the local judge, in any county. It creates a roadblock to good management in my judgment.
Specifically, Maher says he had difficulty getting registers to work full 7 1/2 hour days.
He says he also couldn’t always convince some of them to attend training sessions, designed to improve efficiency or to update registers new laws.
On its face, it may seem obvious that if the court had the authority to hire registers, judges could do a better job holding the registers accountable.
But Cheshire County Register Anna Tilton says, at least in her experience, she inherited an a series of office protocols that hadn’t been updated in years.
TAPE: when I got there one of the first things I did was get rid of the type writer they were using on a daily basis. They were tying these little labels. And these labels were being put onto the files. First off you didn’t need the labels. And you certainly didn’t need to type on the little labels. And that eliminated a couple of hours of work a week.
Tilton says, one of the downsides to hiring is that registers and the judges fall into routines.
So, she says, no one challenges the status quo.
At the same time, the race in Cheshire shows how strange it is to have these positions elected.
Three of four women in the office filed to run for Cheshire County Register this year.
Candidates agreed that while everyone was professional, it makes for awkward moments.
And a question must be asked whether an assistant in the office can run a real race against their current boss, without fear of reprisals later on.
Merrimack Register Jane Bradstreet says its obvious to her that there are pros and cons to the system.
But she believes her ability to stand just outside the court power structure helps keep the office running smoothly.
1:58...so I feel a little more independent in expressing my view. I don’t have a lot of clout. I am only a probate register. But I feel I can say what I think and talk about the emperor’s new clothes in ways other employees perhaps can’t.
A number of critics say the best reason to keep the current system is that the courts need to be accountable to the public.
Secretary of State Bill Gardner says he would rather see voters make a mistake that is correctable in two years, rather than the alternative.
:43 I think in a free society, public officials who hold lifetime appointments, can serve without coming up for public review or election should not be making the decision of picking other public officials.
Retired Judge Maher says he understands people want to make sure the register is responsive to the public.
But he has a hard time believing that most people feel a need to have a register be as responsive as state reps or executive councilors.
20:18 if we are all in this together, to make the most efficient government we can, I fail to understand why they can’t understand, why this is a technical position. The person we would want there is the most efficient. And the public has no idea if this individual running for register of probate has that skill set that is necessary to make them the best person for the job.
Both sides have compelling hypothetical arguments on their side.
But Merrimack Register Bradstreet says at this point, she doesn’t see much reason to be concerned.
10:33 I like to tell people, most registers die in office. And it has been sort of the case. You become the register and you stay the register for a long time. so it hasn’t been very volatile. But is that a good or bad thing? You’ve got a bad register and they don’t vote her out. b/c in truth, who knows what the register does?
Judges and some registers are increasingly concerned about the job becoming politicized.
The number of people running has bumped up in recent years.
And the position does pay reasonably well- anywhere from $38 thousand dollars to $66 thousand, plus benefits.
Depending on how many incumbent registers get knocked off this November, this debate could take on a greater sense of urgency.
For NHPR News, I’m DG.
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Very Interesting - noting that they are paid a salary with benefits, are they considered state employees? Does the Judicial Branch have a job description and qualifications? I followed the race in Strafford County where the incumbent has been in office for 22 years. Her opponent appeared to be well qualified, yet she lost in the primary race. Probably because of no name recognition--research in the archives of Foster's Daily Democrat at my local library shows that the current register, Kim Wood, has been there since 1980. She graduated from high school in 1978 or 1979 and got an entry level job at the courts and then ran in 1986 and won?! She has no college degree, no prior management experience. Would she have gotten the job if she had to apply and be intereviewed?