The Courts
Supreme, Superior and Circuit; how judges are appointed and how long they serve; and where the legislature and the courts meet.
On this page
Cite this page
Granite Record indexes the General Court’s record; it is not that record. Where a citation allows only one source, cite the General Court — every page here links to what it is drawn from. The date below is the day the page was read.
- MLA
- “The Courts.” Granite Record, https://graniterecord.org/learn/the-courts. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
- APA
- Granite Record. (n.d.). The Courts. Retrieved 24 Oct. 2026, from https://graniterecord.org/learn/the-courts
- Chicago
- Granite Record. “The Courts.” Accessed 24 Oct. 2026. https://graniterecord.org/learn/the-courts.
- BibTeX
@misc{learn-the-courts, title = {The Courts}, howpublished = {Granite Record}, url = {https://graniterecord.org/learn/the-courts}, note = {Accessed 24 Oct. 2026} }
Three Courts
New Hampshire has three courts.
- The Supreme Court hears appeals and is the final word on what a state law means.
- The Superior Court holds jury trials and hears the more serious civil and criminal cases.
- The Circuit Court handles the highest volume of cases each year, including misdemeanors, small claims, probate, and family cases such as divorce and custody.
How a Judge Gets the Job
- The Governor nominatesNo judicial election, at any level.
- The Executive Council confirmsThe same route as a commissioner.
- The judge servesUntil the age of seventy at most: Part Second, Article 78.
The Governor nominates and the Executive Council confirms — the same route as a commissioner, which is the clearest illustration of what the Council is for. There is no judicial election in New Hampshire at any level. No one may serve as a judge after the age of seventy, which is set by the constitution itself: Part Second, Article 78. Raising it to seventy-five has been tried. A 2023 amendment to do so passed both chambers and went to the voters in November 2024, where 65.6% voted yes, short of the two thirds an amendment needs; and a 2026 proposal to make the same change, which failed in the House, still described the limit as seventy.
Where the Courts and the Legislature Meet
The legislature writes statutes, and the courts decide what they mean when that is disputed, and whether they are permitted by the state or federal constitution. A decision striking down or narrowing a statute is sometimes followed by bills amending the language around the new standard, and those bills are in the record here like any other.
This site holds no court records: no opinions, no dockets, no filings. Judicial nominations go to the Executive Council rather than the legislature, so they are not here either. This page is here because you cannot follow a statute's life without knowing who else acts on it, and it links out for anything more.