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After heated debate over legal bills, council creates legal subcommittee to route attorney requests
Summary
Residents and a councilor pressed for a written policy after tallying legal bills; council voted to form a legal subcommittee (chair and vice chair) to review and route legal questions and to seek an attorney opinion on the committee's legality.
A contentious public discussion on June 15 focused on the town’s growing legal bills and how councilors access outside counsel. Resident Robin Stewart said legal spending has dominated invoices and asked that the council adopt a legal‑use policy to limit ad‑hoc attorney requests.
Stewart described a review of invoices and said, "the legal bills are quite high and have been for years," urging a policy that would ensure shared information and limit duplicate work. Councilors and staff debated confidentiality, RSA 91‑A (executive‑session rules), and whether individual members should be able to contact counsel directly.
After long exchanges alleging misuse and defensive rebuttals, the council approved creating a legal subcommittee composed of the chair and vice chair to review attorney requests and to bring a formal draft policy back to the full council. Several members warned the approach raises concerns about delegation of spending authority and said they want a written legal opinion before any subcommittee exercises delegated power over legal expenditures.
Next steps: the subcommittee will draft a process and seek town‑attorney review and a legal opinion on whether the proposed routing is consistent with the charter and state law.
