Concord, NH –Melissa Beth Countway, of Alton, was officially sworn in today as the 110th Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Administering the oath of office to Justice Countway in the David Souter Conference Room of the New Hampshire Supreme Court was Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald. Justice Countway had served as a Judge in the New Hampshire Circuit Court from 2017-2023, and previously served as the Belknap County Attorney as well as an attorney in private practice. Countway was nominated to the Supreme Court by Governor Christopher T. Sununu on November 8, 2023 and confirmed by the New Hampshire Executive Council on December 20, 2023.
Justice Countway makes history as the 4th woman to serve on the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the first ever Circuit Court Judge to be elevated to the Supreme Court. She will be present to hear her first oral arguments as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on January 3, 2024. Justice Countway will be formally sworn in at a public ceremony in the near future.