MISSION
The 105-member commission was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in April of 2005. The commission was directed to independently assess how justice is delivered by the state court system from the perspective of the 1.2 million citizens of the state and to make recommendations for improvements.

ROLE OF COMMISSIONERS
Each commissioner is expected to independently research and review the operations of the current state court system, to work with commission colleagues to collaboratively issue findings and establish issue priorities as a result of this research, and to issue a final report with recommendations which the commission as a whole determines are appropriate for improving the way the state court system delivers justice.

Commissioners are encouraged to advocate for adopting recommendations once the final report is issued to the Chief Justice. While appointed by the Chief Justice, the Commission is an independent body and its recommendations are intended to be driven by its own fact finding and deliberation. The Commission is guided by the Right to Know Law. All Commission meetings are public, though public participation in the deliberative phase will be solely as observers. Commission members are not required to make any financial disclosure statements.

ROLE OF STEERING COMMITTEE
Members of the Commission's Steering Committee were appointed by the co-chairs from the Commission membership to provide governance for the Commission as it does its work. The Steering Committee is to prepare Commission meeting agendas, to provide organizational guidance and to assure full transparency of the Commission's work. All meetings of the Steering Committee are open to the public, though public participation in such meetings will be limited to the role of observers.

ROLE OF CO-CHAIRMEN
The Commission co-chairs are the leaders of the Commission. It is their responsibility to see that the Commission has a clear understanding of its responsibilities, to hire any necessary staff and professional assistance, and to assure that the work of the Commission and the use of Commissioners' time is effectively planned.

FINANCING
Initially funded by two grants of $30,000 each, one from the New Hampshire Bar Foundation and one from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the Commission anticipates that its total cost will be in the range of $120,000 over 18 months. The co-chairs will work with the Steering Committee to assure that necessary funds are available to complete the Commission's work.