Helen Hanks, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, resigned Monday, ending a more than two decade career with the department.
Her departure, which came without explanation, was announced by a press release from the governor’s office. Assistant Commissioner Paul Raymond has also been placed on leave. Meanwhile, Gov. Kelly Ayotte will nominate the Police Standards and Training Director John Scippa to serve as Acting Commissioner for up to 90 days “as the search for a new commissioner takes place.”
Hanks led corrections since 2017, and she was the first woman to ever hold that job in New Hampshire. Her departure follows months of rising tensions between Hanks and top Republicans in Concord.
Ayotte announced in February that she had directed Hanks to call people in correctional facilities “inmates.” Hanks, who got her start in her department as a social worker, had favored calling them “residents.”
In April, GOP budget writers in the House said they'd lost confidence in Hanks, and cut her department's budget by 10%, eliminating more than a 120 filled jobs despite Hanks’ warnings that the reductions would lead to safety and liability issues.
Republicans on the Executive Council, meanwhile, clashed with Hanks over her department’s procurement practices.
On May 7, the Council tabled one contract Hanks sought with a courier service operated by a man accused of committing abuse at the state’s youth detention center. During that same meeting, the council rejected a $2.1 million dollar Taser contract Hanks wanted.
District 4 Councilor, John Stephen chastised Hanks over both contracts during the meeting. On May 14, Stephen followed up with a letter demanding an explanation, and alleging that Hanks’ department had improperly received a shipment of Tasers in 2024 that had never been authorized by the Council.
“I expect a comprehensive response addressing both the contract vetting failure and the Taser procurement no later than Friday May 16, 2025. Nothing less than your prompt attention to this matter will be considered acceptable,” Stephen wrote.
In a May 16 response to Stephen, Hanks defended her department’s handling of the courier contract, but also complained of staffing limitations, “we have a vacancy that is impacting our processes, “ she wrote.
Hanks left Stephen’s questions about the Taser procurement unaddressed.
“There are issues of accountability,” Stephen said Monday. "I’ve seen issues that I don’t like, and I questioned her.”
Other councilors said Monday they were caught off guard by Hanks’ resignation and were still trying to understand exactly what happened. District 2 Councilor Karen Liot Hill, the Council’s lone Democrat, said Hanks deserves credit for bringing down the state’s rate of recidivism.
“It has gone down significantly from around 48% to 40%. That saves money for taxpayers and leads to better outcomes,” Liot Hill said.
District 1 Councilor Joe Kenney said leading corrections is a hard job. He said Hanks' departure was abrupt, but maybe that’s what was needed.
“I think this is going to be a new look at our corrections system, and unfortunately that is the action that it took,” Kenney said.
