The Department of Safety Prosecution Unit provides prosecution assistance to the State Police, State Fire Marshall, Marine Patrol and State Hospital Campus Police.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide highly competent and professional prosecution services for Department of Safety law enforcement agencies and to fairly, effectively and efficiently enforce the laws of the State of New Hampshire. We view this mission as a partnership between us, law enforcement, the Courts, the defense bar and the citizens of New Hampshire.

Structure

Due to the large coverage area, the state has been divided into primary courts, secondary courts and DWI courts.

For the primary courts, the Prosecution Unit accepts and prosecutes only felonies and misdemeanors (except for the Manchester Circuit Court, where the prosecution unit also routinely prosecutes violation offenses.) Attorney coverage for violation level offenses in other primary courts may be available to law enforcement upon request.

For secondary courts the law enforcement agency is primarily responsible for their own prosecution. However, we will accept cases that require the assistance of an attorney upon request of the arresting officer or their supervisor. The designated prosecutor will file an appearance when covering a case in a secondary court.

For DWI courts an attorney is assigned to handle all aspects of any DWI in that court but the court is otherwise treated as a secondary court.

To provide improved representation and streamline prosecution efforts, our prosecutors have been decentralized to three satellite locations - Troop Station A in Epping, Troop Station B in Bedford and Troop Station D in Concord. For more information on contacting a prosecutor, please see the bottom of this page.

Current Assignments

• Brentwood – Vacant (DWI Court)
• Candia – Vacant
• Claremont- Attorney James Shepard
• Concord – Attorney Charles O'Leary
• Conway- Vacant
• Dover – Vacant
• Derry – Attorney Patricia O'Brien (DWI Court)
• Franklin – Attorney Charles O'Leary
• Hampton – Vacant
• Hooksett – Attorney Charles O'Leary
• Jaffrey- Attorney James Shepard
• Keene – Attorney James Shepard
• Laconia- Vacant
• Manchester – Attorney Patricia O'Brien
• Merrimack – Attorney Patricia O'Brien
• Nashua – Vacant
• Newport- Attorney James Shepard
• Ossipee- Vacant
• Portsmouth – Vacant (DWI Court)
• Plymouth - Vacant
• Rochester – Vacant (DWI Court)
• Salem – Attorney Patricia O'Brien

Primary responsibility for prosecution of Secondary Courts rests with the law enforcement officer who handled the case or their court officer, if applicable. As of 12/19/2018 those court officers are:

Attorney and Staff Contact Information: