Who's In Charge Of The Judicial Branch With Chief Justice MacDonald On Medical Leave, Executive Councilor Asks AG

By Nancy West, InDepth NH

CONCORD, NH — Democratic Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill has asked the question of the attorney general that neither the court nor Gov. Kelly Ayotte has answered publicly: “Who is presently authorized to exercise the administrative powers and duties assigned by law and/or the constitution to the Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court?”

Liot Hill said in a letter Tuesday to Attorney General John Formella that “we received a notice from the NH Supreme Court that Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald would be taking medical leave effective immediately. It further stated: ‘The work of the New Hampshire Supreme Court will continue without interruption.’ However, it provided no additional details.”

In addition to sitting on cases, the Chief Justice of the NH Supreme Court is also the administrative head of the Judicial Branch, the letter noted. And no details of what prompted the sudden notice of MacDonald’s medical leave have been released citing privacy concerns.

The question raised major issues because so little is being shared publicly about MacDonald’s leave because he has been been under scrutiny for his conduct while serving as chief justice, starting with the criminal charges against Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi.

And more recently after New Hampshire Public Radio published a report last October about MacDonald helping a favored colleague at the court Dianne Martin collect $50,000 in benefits for being laid off for two days before being hired into another judicial branch position.

Last Friday and since then, court spokesman David Sakowich hasn’t responded to questions asking whether the Judicial Conduct Committee is investigating MacDonald. According to the JCC website, any investigation into a judge is confidential until a statement of formal charges is prepared and filed or until the report is finally disposed of by the Committee.

When pressed to respond to who is in charge of the administration of the court in MacDonald’s absence, Sakowich referred InDepthNH.org to the brief Friday news release that indicated it may be a shared responsibility of the remaining four justices.

“The work of the New Hampshire Supreme Court will continue without interruption. Senior Associate Justice Patrick E. Donovan, Justice Melissa Countway, Justice Bryan Gould, and Justice Daniel Will remain actively engaged in preparing for the Court’s next session, with oral arguments scheduled for September 22.

“The members of the New Hampshire Supreme Court are united in wishing Chief Justice MacDonald a full and speedy recovery,” the Justices said in a joint statement,” the Friday release said.

State Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Windham, who formerly served as the chief justice of the state Supreme Court and is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he had heard only rumors about the “Dianne Martin situation” and had done no independent investigation into allegations.

“I heard about what was reported in the press about it” and the fact that the attorney general found that best practices may have not been followed but there was no wrongdoing, Lynn said Tuesday.

“I have no idea,” Lynn said about any pending probe involving MacDonald. “I haven’t tried to conduct any independent inquiry.”

Lynn did say he thinks in MacDonald’s absence, the senior judge will be in charge of administration.

“I think normally Senior Associate Justice Patrick Donovan would take over most of the those duties,” Lynn said.

MacDonald’s attorney Jane Young didn’t return a request for comment.

Liot Hill also asked Formella to respond to the following questions: “What constitutional, statutory, court rule, or other legal authority governs that determination?

• “Does New Hampshire law authorize or require the appointment of an Acting Chief Justice, or other acting administrative head of the Judicial Branch, during a temporary absence of the Chief Justice?
• If no such appointment has been made, by what legal authority are the Chief Justice’s administrative duties presently being exercised?
• If current law is silent, what is the Attorney General’s opinion regarding the proper legal mechanism for ensuring continuity of judicial administration?”

Liot said to Formella: “I would appreciate your guidance to the Executive Council on these questions as soon as possible. The public does not need to know private medical information, but it is reasonable for the public to know who is exercising the administrative authority of one of the three branches of state government and under what legal authority.”

Formella’s spokesman didn’t immediately respond to InDepthNH.org’s questions about the letter.

MacDonald was under scrutiny when state Supreme Court Justice Hantz Marconi said he told her she had the right to meet with then-Gov. Chris Sununu in June of 2024 during an investigation into her husband Geno Marconi, who was then the state Ports and Harbors director, and she was later indicted for allegedly seeking a special favor because of that meeting. MacDonald denied telling her that when interviewed by investigators. Hantz Marconi pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge, was found guilty, fined and returned to work until she retired.

Formella investigated the reports involving Dianne Martin’s $50,000 payout and determined “that the series of events and transactions examined do not warrant further review or investigation by DOJ as, at this time, there is no reasonable suspicion to believe that further investigation would uncover actionable criminal conduct. While it would be reasonable to conclude that in certain respects human resources best practices were not followed during the series of events and transactions examined, DOJ does not have oversight authority over the judicial branch for such issues. DOJ is therefore closing its review and will take no further action on this matter.”

Formella’s report also said: “Four Supreme Court Justices released a public statement on October 30, 2025, explaining that the judicial branch had been contemplating reorganization of administrative operations since 2024 and that every personnel decision taken regarding Ms. Martin was made collectively by the Supreme Court. The effective date of its administrative reorganization, Judge Keating’s appointment as Interim Director of AOC, Ms. Martin’s layoff, and her subsequent hiring as General Counsel to the Office of Bar Admissions were the sole province of the Supreme Court.”

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.