House Bill 78 would amend RSA 655:9 to require that county officers—including county commissioners—have a domicile in the district from which they are elected. The measure responded to an oversight after last session’s statute change that districted Strafford County, which left language unclear about domicile and vacancy handling.

Representative Turcotte introduced the bill and described the factual history: during last term’s statute work, Strafford County was moved from at‑large commissioner elections to district elections, but language guaranteeing that commissioners must be domiciled in their elected district was omitted. Turcotte said the omission led to a filing by a candidate who lived outside the district and a subsequent ballot‑law review, which concluded the commission lacked jurisdiction to fix the statutory oversight.

Senator James Gray appeared and recommended a technical amendment to insert the word “maintain” in domicile language so that a commissioner must maintain domicile in the district during their term; Gray also proposed clarifying how vacancies should be filled so replacements come from the district. Several committee members supported adopting the senator’s clarifying language.

Witnesses and former county officials testified in favor of the correction and urged the committee to adopt the amendment. Commenters described prior instances where elected commissioners no longer lived in the district they represented and argued that district representation should require residence in the district. Committee members asked procedural questions about who fills vacancies and whether the county delegation or district delegates should make appointments; sponsors said the amendment resolves the uncertainty and recommended the senator’s language.

The committee closed testimony and left the bill pending with a recommended amendment from the senator to clarify domicile maintenance and vacancy filling.