NH CITIZENS COMMISSION ON THE STATE COURTS 
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES 
TUESDAY, October 11, 2005 
Attendees: Will Abbott, Byron Champlin, John Crosier, Mike Ostrowski, Nina 
Gardner, Eric Herr, Laura Kiernan, Ann McArdle 
Keene Listening Session: The committee members decided to reschedule tonight’s 
listening session in Keene due to the flooding situation in the area. The session will 
be rescheduled no later than mid-November. 
Research Committees: 
Will reviewed the topics proposed for the research committee topics (see list 
attached.) Each of the nine committees would have a chair, a vice chair and a clerk. 
The Steering Committee would take up the ninth topic, “The Big Picture.” Steering 
Committee members discussed the overlap among committee topics and clarified 
the arena for several committee topics. John Crosier suggested that committee 
members will want to know where to find information related to their research 
committee topic. In addition to the materials listed on the Commission website, the 
following are resources for the committees: 
• The National Center for State Courts has assigned a person to be 
available to the Commission for research and information. Laura K will 
find out the name and contact information for this person. 
• Committee members should review the documents and reports already 
linked on our web site. 
• Committee members should notify Will and/or Kathy of any other instate 
or national resources that might be useful to any of the research 
committees. 
• Laura K will do another search for any related and helpful materials, and 
will also list the names of any individuals who might be helpful to the 
research committees. 
Will and Kathy are in the process of making phone calls to Steering Committee 
members and other commission members, to identify leadership for each of the 
research committees. 
The intent is to announce the research committee topics at the November 14 
Commission meeting. John Crosier noted that we will need to remain flexible as to 
the topics discussed – based on further input or discussion, the research topics may 
be modified. Commission members will be asked to identify their top three 
preferences for committee topics and will be assigned to committees by Will and 
Kathy. Laura suggested and the committee agreed that it will be useful to have a 

lawyer or judge (or another knowledgeable commission member) on each committee 
as a resource for technical, factual information. 
Budget: 
Will reviewed the budget with the Steering Committee members and commented 
that the commission will need another 50-60K to complete its work. We will run out 
of funds in October and need an immediate 10-20K to get through the end of the 
calendar year. He and Kathy are in the process of approaching several foundations. 
Steering Committee members suggested several possible sources of funds. 
Processes for Deliberation Phase and Report Preparation Phase: 
Research committees will bring their recommendations to the full commission for 
discussion and review. The Steering Committee will further delineate the process 
for defining how minority positions would be recorded. The Steering Committee 
will identify both facilitation resources and report writing resources. The Steering 
Committee agreed that the final report should focus on central themes and action 
recommendations for those themes. An appendix to the report would list all of the 
specific recommendations developed by the research committees. 
Listening Sessions: 
Will gave an update on the five listening sessions held to date. The Concord session 
generated the highest number of speakers. The most frequent topic related to 
family court decision. Other commentary covered a broad range of topics. The 
listening sessions will conclude in mid-November. 
Will also updated Steering Committee members on the very useful and informative 
meeting he and Kathy Eneguess had with the Fathers’ Group. 
Agenda for November 14 Commission Meeting: 
• Announcement of research committee topics, committee leadership and 
the role of committee leaders, charge to committees. 
• Outline of the Deliberation Process and the Report Preparation Process 
(to be emailed to commissioners in advance of the meeting.) 
• Report on the Listening Sessions 
• Presentation by Judge Batchelder and/or Pres. John Hutson on the 
Commission on the Status of the Legal Profession 
• Presentation by Judge Kelly on the evolution of Family Court 
• Research Committees to have 15 minutes to meet at the end of this 
commission meeting. 
Next Steering Committee Meeting: November 8, 2005 at 10am.