New Hampshire has a new system that will allow local and state police to view real-time information about a person’s bail conditions.
Law enforcement officers used to have to contact agencies or the courts directly to get that information, according to Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s office.
“This took great cooperation across branches of government because it is so important that we have real-time information about bail orders that are issued,” Ayotte said. “That will allow us to keep people safe, it will allow us to keep officers safe.”
Law enforcement and court leaders joined Ayotte in New London to discuss the new system Monday.
State Police Major Chad Lavoie said bail data received directly from the courts is now available to officers statewide via the State Police Online Telecommunications System. The system, commonly known as SPOTS, is used during traffic stops by officers to check license plates and research driver and criminal record information.
Lavoie said investments in the system will include bail status and conditions, which may include firearms restrictions, alcohol restrictions, no-contact restrictions, or orders for an individual to stay away from a specific location.
The system was funded through a $500,000 state investment, which the governor and Executive Council approved earlier this year.
Judge Chris Keating, who was appointed to the new role of State Court Administrator in 2025, said hundreds of judicial branch employees and bail commissioners make the system work.
Every time a judge or bail commissioner issues a bail order, or a judge issues or amends one, that is entered into the system. And every time a judge vacates a bail order, that order is promptly removed from the system, Keating said.
Attorney General John Formella said the new system will be valuable for law enforcement and critical for victims.
Formella mentioned the death last summer of a domestic violence victim in Berlin.
“We can’t ever guarantee that one thing would have changed an outcome,” he said, “but I will say this: I firmly believe that if we had better systems in place to communicate information among law enforcement and prosecutors in the judicial branch in a timely and efficient manner, we would have had a much better chance of preventing what happened to Marisol Fuentes.”
