By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – After taking full responsibility for not informing the governor of a Trump administration request for information on a potential ICE detention center in Merrimack, and offering an apology during an Executive Council emergency meeting Feb. 4, Sarah Stewart has resigned at Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s request.
Stewart was nominated commissioner of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources by former Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, in 2018. She had served two terms, but announced last November she would not be seeking a third term and would end her employment in June of this year.
“Governor (Kelly) Ayotte requested Commissioner Stewart’s resignation and accepted it, effective today,” according to a news release from Ayotte’s spokesman John Corbett Monday morning.
He said Ayotte will nominate Adam Crepeau, deputy commissioner of the Department of Environmental Services as acting commissioner.
Stewart declined comment Monday.
But in an email to supporters and colleagues in New Hampshire last Friday, obtained by InDepthNH.org, Stewart said the “underlying work of the department was lawful and carried out in the normal course of agency responsibilities. Where there was a lapse, it was an internal process issue — and I took responsibility for that, as leaders should.
“Public service can sometimes involve moments that feel louder or more charged than the facts alone would warrant. I’ve been careful to stay focused on accuracy, transparency, and professionalism, and I remain confident in how I handled myself and in the integrity of the team I lead.
“I’ve spent my career trying to show up with integrity, even when it’s uncomfortable, and that remains my north star. I’m grateful for the many thoughtful messages of support I’ve received. Please know that I’m okay, fully engaged in my work, and deeply appreciative of the people in my life who understand both the challenges and the purpose of public service,” Stewart said.
Stewart told the Governor and Executive Council at the meeting that she did not know about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement inquiry to one of the departments under her authority, Historic and Cultural Resources. It had received a request in January for information on whether an empty warehouse in Merrimack had any historic or cultural resources attached to it.
It is customary when the federal government wants to acquire or use property to file such requests. The department receives about 1,300 such Section 106 review requests a year but people who worked in historical resources did not inform Stewart.
Gov. Ayotte had been saying that she had reached out to the Trump Administration for information on a Washington Post report Dec. 24, 2025, about the Merrimack facility and received no information.
She told Stewart at the meeting that she needed her department heads to communicate with her on such an important issue, particularly to help the Town of Merrimack with their inquiry.
Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford asked Stewart to consider moving up her plans to resign during the meeting but Stewart did not answer. The governor said she was asking Attorney General Formella to investigate the matter, which came to light following a right-to-know request issued to Historical Resources by the ACLU of New Hampshire.
ACLU-NH posted a press release Feb. 3 that some state officials did in fact know about the ICE inquiry to house as many as 1,500 detainees at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway in Merrimack, not far from Route 3 near the Nashua line in January.
On Monday, Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, said she was sad Stewart resigned, but pleased the investigation will go forward to determine how the communication process failed.
Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said he was pleased, too, that the Formella investigation would go forward “to find out who knew what when.”
Executive Councilor John Stephen said: “I’d like to thank Governor Ayotte for ensuring strong accountability within state government. This is what our citizens deserve. I’d also like to thank the Governor for bringing forward Deputy Commissioner Adam Crepeau to serve in the interim. I look forward to voting to confirm him as Acting Commissioner.”