Six months into job, NH Corrections Commissioner Hart presents eagerness to tackle big challenges

Corrections Commissioner William Hart speaks at a January Executive Council meeting. (Photo by William Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin)

William Hart took over as leader of New Hampshire’s prison system roughly six months ago with a trio of major challenges.

Chronic staffing issues mean the Department of Corrections has a 47% vacancy rate. The state’s men’s prison is in disrepair. On top of that, the Legislature cut the department’s budget by $10 million and instructed his team to find the savings.

However, in an interview with the Bulletin last month, Hart said he remained optimistic and appeared eager to take on the challenges.

“I think there was understandable trepidation about change,” Hart said of the culture within the department. “That’s normal, and I think that was compounded by the fact that DOC has been through a bumpy year, really, in a variety of ways with a variety of challenges. So I think there was a hope that maybe there might be some stability coming forward. And I think so far, knock on wood, that’s been something that we’ve achieved.”

Last year was a tumultuous one for the department. Gov. Kelly Ayotte appointed Hart in August after his predecessor, Helen Hanks, abruptly resigned. Hanks left the role in May amid controversy over allegations she hid evidence in a murder trial as well as conflicts she had with the Executive Council over approval of a stun gun purchase and the same types of staffing issues the department faces today, according to previous Bulletin reporting. Assistant Corrections Commissioner Paul Raymond was put on administrative leave before resigning.

 “I think we’ve already had a change in tone, if nothing else, here at DOC,” Hart said. “It’s hard for me to be the judge since I’m sort of a subjective actor here, but I do think it’s a noticeable change in tone at a minimum, and a noticeable change in process orientation.”

Hart comes from the U.S. Marshal Service and is a former Londonderry police chief and Rockingham County attorney. Immediately after Hanks resigned, Ayotte appointed John Scippa, the state’s director of police standards and training, to serve as interim commissioner until Hart was confirmed by the Executive Council. Scippa said that for many years he and Hart “had both a professional and personal relationship.” 

“I first met Bill when he was running for county attorney and I was a police officer on the Seacoast,” Scippa said. “And then when he became the county attorney of Rockingham, he would sponsor monthly trainings for all the area police officers. That’s where we kind of got to know each other.”

Later in their careers, when Hart transitioned from county attorney to the Londonderry Police Department, he had to attend a police academy.

“And I was one of his drill instructors,” he said. “It was kind of weird, he was my county attorney and then fast forward, he’s a recruit and I was his assistant commandant.”

Over that time, Scippa said he got to know Hart as “a true professional public servant.”

“As the governor’s office was contemplating who would be a good fit, when Bill’s name came up, I felt, and passed along to the governor’s office, that I thought he would be just a perfect fit,” he said. “They’re lucky to have him.”

One of Hart’s first challenges arrived during last year’s budget season. The Department of Corrections was among several state agencies hit with back-of-the-budget cuts, and that forced Hart to shave $10 million off its budget. 

For starters, the department is asking the Legislature to approve a restructuring of department administration that he believes will save $400,000 and $550,000 over the next 18 months. Additionally, Hart said the department is putting some of the savings it made from vacancies toward the $10 million.

“In other words, if we’re at a 47% vacancy rate, there’s some money that if those positions were filled, or a portion of those positions were filled, we’d be expending. We are not expending that. Some of that will go to increased overtime expenses, but some of that will go to the back-of-the-budget,” he said.

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But Hart said the department’s high overtime costs means eliminating those positions is not a long-term solution. He’s working to identify more areas to make cuts.

Meanwhile, the state is in desperate need of a new men’s prison, Hart said. The New Hampshire State Prison for Men was built in 1878 and is falling into disrepair, he said.

Jane Graham, the department’s strategic communications and legislative affairs administrator who also served under the previous commissioner, emphasized how the prison is “in poor condition” and comes from an earlier era of corrections before advancements were made in the field.

“It was kind of set up piecemeal,” Graham said. “Like there’s the older part of the building, that 1878 portion, and then you’ve got some 1980s add-ons. I think when they construct new prisons now they’re really looking at things like rehabilitation, education, programming, things that all lead towards lower recidivism. We’ve seen that with the women’s prison. We’ve been able to design things like that with their education and programming in mind. And I think we would be able to do that with the men’s prison as well.”

While the men’s prison is almost a century and half old, the state was quicker to replace the women’s facility. The New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Concord opened in 2018. Graham said the department has already seen decreases in recidivism among released female inmates since that facility opened, and they suspect the same will happen for the men at the new facility.

In 2024, former Gov. Chris Sununu approved $40 million to start the planning and design process for a new men’s prison. Hart said his department works on the project “every day.” However, he said it’s too early to predict when construction might begin. He said he plans to have a meeting with Ayotte soon to discuss his progress on the project and get her input.

Hart has also quickly jumped on recruiting efforts. The department implemented a $10,000 signing bonus in November, which the department said has attracted 270 new applicants as of Feb. 9. It also held a one-day hiring “blitz” in December that allowed applicants to begin all the pre-training academy hiring steps — medical examination, aptitude test, etc. — in a single day.

He characterized it as “dramatic success.” However, he cautioned that progress on this front is “like a big battleship. It slowly turns rather than a motorboat that quickly turns.”

Hart said the hiring process and training academy takes roughly eight months to complete. In the meantime, staffing shortages mean mandatory overtime and persistent burnout for the corrections officers the department does have, he said. The department typically has two academy classes for new recruits, but last year, he said they had so few recruits, they couldn’t have a second academy class in March.

However, he raves about the officers he does have, saying he is “deeply impressed by the commitment and professionalism” he sees in them.

“Corrections is often seen as a little bit of a stepchild in law enforcement,” he said. “That is completely misplaced. Corrections is law enforcement.”

He added: “It’s different than a cop who doesn’t know the population that they’re dealing with. We know that some of these folks are bad actors. Some of them made a mistake, and have to pay for it. I get that, but some of these folks are bad actors. And folks go to work every day, interact with, treat people with uncommon compassion, with humanity and dignity.”

In October, New Hampshire Public Radio reported that a corrections officer had intercepted and stolen mail from an inmate who was attempting to report physical abuse committed by a fellow officer to the state in 2021.

Asked by the Bulletin whether he thinks this is indicative of a larger conduct problem within the Corrections Department, Hart said: “Honestly, I have to say, not so much. Are there issues as there are in every single prison around the world? Are there issues of bad behavior by folks? Yes. Are they common? Absolutely not. Do we deal with them? 100%. Do we deal with them in a fair and appropriate manner? 100%.”

In 2023, the Corrections Department became aware of the stolen abuse reports, but decided not to prosecute, NHPR reported.

In the future, Hart said he looks forward to working with the Legislature to “appropriately fund DOC into the future.”