WHO WILL REPLACE David Brock as chief justice of the NH Supreme Court and how that successor will be chosen continues to be an unsettled issue. Gov. Benson is challenging the law enacted in 2001 that makes the senior member of the court the next chief justice, and creates a five-year rotation for chief justice.

Benson has asked for an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of that law; the sitting Supreme Court justices would obviously have to recuse themselves from hearing the case. A panel of retired or lower court judges will likely have to be empanelled to hear the case.

In the meantime, Benson has indicated that he is eager to move forward with appointing the next chief justice, using the past practice of the governor and executive council selecting the chief. Benson has stated that he is not opposed to John T. Broderick, Jr., the most senior member of the court, becoming the next chief justice, but that he wants the flexibility to select the head of the state’s highest court.

Benson is also moving forward with filling Brock’s vacant seat on the court. He has scrapped the 11-member judicial selection commission, formed by former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen to screen and nominate candidates for judgeships, in favor of a three-member panel composed of Republicans Rep. Henry Mock, state Sen. Sheila Roberge and lawyer Chris Reid, Benson’s former legal counsel. The panel will screen, interview and do background checks on candidates for the open seat on the court. Benson has been criticized for forming a partisan panel that, unlike the judicial selection commission, does not include representatives of various segments of the population.

Mock, a Republican from Jackson, is House Judiciary Committee chair and chaired the House hearing that recommended impeaching Brock three years ago. Reid served as Benson’s legal counsel before leaving last month. Roberge, of Bedford, is dean of the Senate. She also is chair of the Senate Public Affairs Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

More than a dozen names have been put forth as possible appointees to the Supreme Court, Benson spokesman Keith Herman has said.

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