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To the Citizen's of the County of Hillsborough, Members of the County Delegation and Board of County Commissioners,

  Greetings,

       As I complete my first six months as the newly elected Sheriff of Hillsborough County, I want to thank the citizens of the county for placing their trust and confidence in electing me as the 28th High Sheriff of Hillsborough County. The opportunity to serve as Sheriff is a privilege. The position of Hillsborough County Sheriff is a responsibility I humbly accept and a challenge I enjoy and welcome.

       This report also covers the last six months of retired Sheriff Walter A. Morse's tenure as sheriff of Hillsborough County. As the financial reports and related statistics attest to, Sheriff Morse left the office in excellent fiscal shape. I hope to continue some of the legacies left by Sheriff Morse including sound fiscal oversight of the operating budget, as well as a strong commitment to cooperation between our partners in law enforcement around the state and country. As Sheriff Morse completes another chapter in his long service to the state of New Hampshire, he begins his next as a member of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission, after being nominated and confirmed to this position by the Governor and Council. The men and women of the office of the Hillsborough County Sheriff join me in wishing Sheriff Morse, his wife Bonnie and family all the best in their future endeavors.

       On a sad note, we mourned the loss of retired Sheriff Louis A. Durette last December. Sheriff Durette served from 1984 until 1993. His passing leaves a void in the lives of veteran employees at this office that worked with Sheriff Durette for many years. Sheriff Durette was known for his compassion for those down on their luck both as a veteran Manchester police officer and as county sheriff. His legacy of service in law enforcement continues through Sheriff and Lucille Durette's two sons; Arthur Durette currently serves as Chief Deputy Sheriff for Hillsborough County; Paul Durette is serving as a Division Director with the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

       I am grateful to both the late Sheriff Durette and Sheriff Morse for their advice, counsel, and mentoring through our years of service together.

       The Office of the Hillsborough County Sheriff continues its tradition of service to the county's citizens. Hillsborough County is the most populated county in the state. Within the county boundaries, are New Hampshire's two largest cities, Manchester and Nashua and several of the state's largest towns among the total of twenty-nine towns that comprise the County of Hillsborough.

       I have re-organized the command staff to improve the direction, control and guidance of office operations, personnel and the workload. I am keenly aware that as Sheriff, I have the dual responsibilities of providing leadership and managing the budget.

       This office is fortunate to employ a dedicated, well-trained and motivated group of career veteran employees throughout the various divisions that comprise the office of the Sheriff. Our mandated tasks and other related duties are completed thoroughly and professionally thanks to our employees. I am proud to lead this group of men and women.

       Our force of deputies all possess New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council police certifications, in short, each are state certified police officers. Training and continual updates are the key to effectively carrying out our duties.  I expect a high degree of professionalism from all employees. The office of the Sheriff deals on a daily basis with the negative sides of a person's life. Domestic violence related issues, child custody issues, landlord and tenant issues, bank levies and attachments, other family court issues are but a few of the challenges we meet everyday. A neutral professional presence in a person's home is critical to successfully conducting our mandated duties.

       In addition this office is responsible for the apprehension of fugitives who fail to appear in the two Superior Courts in Nashua and Manchester.

       Our deputies perform inherently dangerous duties every hour of every day. The workload is distributed among the various divisions within the office of the Sheriff. While division assignments are made, the workforce is ready to assume other responsibilities on a moment’s notice, every day, to handle emergencies that need immediate attention.

       The following is a summary of the various primary duties of each division within the Office of the Sheriff:

  Communications

     The Communication Division continues to provide emergency dispatch services for the Sheriff’s Office as well as a number of other communities within the County. With integrity and professionalism as a backdrop to the Division, Communications accepts the challenges of its workload and provides a professional level of emergency communications, including responsibilities in the areas of, police, fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and Highway, (Public Works).

     Police dispatch services are provided for the towns of Francestown, Greenfield, Litchfield, Mason, New Ipswich, Peterborough, and Temple. Fire dispatch is provided for the town of Mason, while EMS dispatch services are provided for Mason and the Souhegan Valley Regional Ambulance.

     The communications center at the Sheriff’s Office remains the communications core for Hillsborough County. As a new year approaches, the skillful men and women who staff the communications center will continue to provide professional services to those in need.

  Court Security

The Court Security Division of the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the custody and control of prisoners held at the District and the Superior Courts of Hillsborough County.

In the Superior Courts, our force of court security officers is responsible for perimeter security, maintaining decorum within the courtrooms and security for the judges, staff and the general public.

       Whether interacting with the many people who access the County’s court systems, or protecting victims and witnesses, the professional staff of court security officers succeeds in their efforts to promote a safe and efficient judicial process.

  Transport Division

A primary duty and responsibility of the Office of the Sheriff is transporting prisoners. I note that the Office of the Sheriff is not responsible for the operations of the county's correctional facilities. The Board of County Commissioners, through an appointed Jail Superintendent, oversees these duties.

           However, the office of the Sheriff is responsible for transporting prisoners to courts within the County from correctional facilities across the state. With the enormous volume of prisoner transports handled around the clock by this office, it remains a challenge to safely move, maintain custody and control incarcerated individuals every day.

          Any time an inmate is outside the confines of a secure correctional facility, the inherent risks to the public increase. A vigilant and well-trained force of deputies and court security officers greatly minimize this risk.

          This office serves the two Superior Court facilities in the state with the largest workloads, the southern and northern districts of Hillsborough County.

          In addition this office also serves six District Courts, two of which, Nashua District Court and Manchester District Court have the largest workloads state wide.

       This division is also responsible for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week on call transports to the cities and towns across the county. This provided service allows local police to avoid a timely trip to the jail with an arrested individual, allowing the local police to maintain local patrol and local emergency responses.

        This service is particularly advantageous to smaller towns across the county that have minimal police resources.

  Civil Division

       The Civil Division of the Sheriff’s office provides service of all forms of civil process for the courts within the County.  The Division also provides service of process to the County’s residents from courts outside of Hillsborough County.

        Domestic violence and child custody issues continue to be an important facet of the division’s workload.  In such instances, the Sheriff’s Office strives to provide a neutral, professional presence so as to ensure the safety of all involved, while preserving the rights of all parties. The division handles civil bench warrants that are issued by the District Courts across the state.

  Warrants Division

The Warrants Division of the Sheriff’s Office is shouldered with the responsibility of tracking and apprehending wanted persons following the issuance of capiases from the County’s Superior Courts.

            The Superior Courts of the Northern and Southern Districts issue warrants for the arrest of wanted parties for criminal as well as civil matters .The criminal matters for which warrants are issued include, but are not limited to, the failure to appear in court, bail jumping, felons in possession of a firearm, felonious sexual assault, and other criminal offenses. The Division works closely with New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services to apprehend parents who attempt to avoid their child support obligations.

           Coordinating the extradition of criminals from other jurisdictions remains an important function of the Warrants Division. When a wanted party flees the jurisdiction to escape justice, the Division moves to force compliance with the judicial process.

           In addition to the tasks listed above, the Warrants Division frequently acts upon requests from other law enforcement agencies to conduct investigative tasks.

  Summary

Also provided at the conclusion of this report is a statistical summary that includes the activities of the Office of the Sheriff and related revenues.

            This office has performed directed police patrol duties on an interim basis for several of the communities around the county. Additionally, our force of deputies assist local and state law enforcement every day in their assigned areas of duty around the county.

            In closing, I look forward to the challenges in the future. I will continue to provide professional services to the county’s citizens in a cost effective manner. On behalf of the men and women of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, I want to thank the citizens and elected officials of Hillsborough County for their continued support.

Respectfully submitted,

James A. Hardy, Sheriff

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