30 STATION BULLETIN 346 



take office on January 1, county officers take office on April 1. The 

 superior court has power to remove any county officer for cause. 



The county commissioners are the administrative board of the 

 county. From their number they choose a chairman and a clerk. The 

 clerk is responsible for keeping a record, the proceedings of the com- 

 missioners and of the county convention, in addition to recording all 

 claims allowed by the commissioners. The board has the custody 

 and care of all property belonging to the county, and has power to 

 appoint the superintendent for the county farm, house of correction, 

 hospital, and jail. Furthermore, they may establish rules and regu- 

 lations. The care and support of county paupers is a direct responsi- 

 bility of the commissioners, even though they may delegate authority 

 to officials of the several towns to provide for the county poor. 



The county treasurer is responsible for keeping a record of all 

 county receipts and payments from county funds in books prescribed 

 by the state tax commission. He is reqviired to make all payments 

 upon order of botli the county commissioners and the superior court. 



The sheriff is the general peace and law enforcement officer of 

 the county. He is the crier of the superior court and has custody of 

 the county jail in those instances where the jail is not located at the 

 county farm. He is authorized to appoint as many deputies as he 

 considers proper. The sheriff's powers to serve criminal or civil 

 processes and to apprehend criminals extend throughout the state 

 as well as within his county. 



The work of the sheriff is under the general supervision of the 

 county solicitor who, essentially, is a state officer even though he is 

 elected by popular vote as a county official. He is under the direction 

 of the attorney general, in whose absence he performs all of the duties 

 of the attorney general's office for the county. Under the direction of 

 the county commissioners he prosecutes or defends an}' suit in which 

 the county is interested, but in important cases he requests the attor- 

 ney general to take personal charge of prosecution. 



The governor is required by law. with the advice and consent of 

 the council, to appoint three medical referees for each of the counties 

 of Coos, Grafton, and Hillsborough, two for Rockingham, and one 

 for each of the other counties. Medical referees hold office for five 

 years and are removable by the governor and council at any time 

 for cause. Their duties are those of examining the dead bodies of 

 persons who are supposed to have come to their death by violence or 

 unlawful act. 



County auditors are annual appointees of the superior court. 

 With respect to their duties. "They shall, once in three months, audit 

 the accounts of the county commissioners, superintendent of the 

 county farm and county treasurer. They shall also audit, once in three 

 months, the bills of the county commissioners for services and ex- 

 penses, and report their findings to the court." 21 For the most part 

 this is a post-audit. 



In New Hampshire the recording of all mortgages and deeds is 

 a responsibility of the countv register of deeds," an elective office. 



« Revised Laws, 1941, Chapter 44. Section 19. 



