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Former Rep. Merner To Plead Guilty With No Jail Time
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Former State Rep. Troy Merner plans to plead guilty to charges he voted illegally and stole taxpayer money, ending the controversy he caused by moving out of his elected district.
InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/tag/troy-merner/)
Former State Rep. Troy Merner plans to plead guilty to charges he voted illegally and stole taxpayer money, ending the controversy he caused by moving out of his elected district.
House Speaker Sherman Packard and Deputy Speaker Steve Smith held an “invitation only” press conference Wednesday regarding former Republican Rep. Troy Merner, who allegedly served the entire last House session after moving out of Lancaster and the district he was elected to represent.
A Dec. 6, 2022, email from Senior Attorney General Myles Matteson to Terry Pfaff, COO of the General Court, outlined a credible complaint that former Republican Rep. Troy Merner didn’t live in the Lancaster district he was elected to represent in the House.
The Lancaster selectmen filled former chairman Troy Merner’s seat with Kathy Lavoie, the woman who blew the whistle on Merner for moving out of Lancaster and continuing to serve on the selectboard, and as Coos County District 1 state Representative, which ultimately led to him resigning from both.
Gov. Chris Sununu swore in a new Democratic state Representative Wednesday and the Executive Council authorized special elections to fill two vacancies in Coos County Districts 1 and 6 as the Democrats now press Republican leadership to explain how long they knew former House Republican Troy Merner, R-Lancaster was in violation by living and voting outside his district.
Former longtime New Hampshire lawmaker Peter Hoe Burling wants to know what the House Speaker and Attorney General knew about former Republican Rep. Troy Merner not living in the Coos County district he represented. And he wants to know when they knew it.
Voting with Kurt Wuelper in favor if the bill were Republican Reps. Louise Andrus, R-Salisbury, Dawn Johnson, R-Laconia, Diane Kelley, R-Temple, Mark McLean, R-Manchester, Troy Merner, R-Lancaster, and Mike Sylvia, R-Belmont.
The announcement by Republican District 1 state Sen. Erin Hennessey of Littleton to not seek re-election has set off a North Country political scramble with so far three candidates vying for the seat.