The independent committee that investigates judges in New Hampshire for possible misconduct announced a slate of ethics charges against former state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi on Thursday, accusing her of failing to “promote public confidence” in the judiciary and violating the law.
The ethics probe stems from Hantz Marconi’s prior arrest and guilty plea last year on accusations she solicited former Gov. Chris Sununu to intervene in a criminal investigation into her husband, former state ports director Geno Marconi.
The announcement of ethics charges against Hantz Marconi comes six months after she stepped down from the bench, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 years old.
In a five-page statement published Thursday, the New Hampshire Judicial Conduct Committee alleges Hantz Marconi violated state law, as well a regulation that requires judges in New Hampshire to avoid impropriety both on and off the bench.
Last October, Hantz Marconi pleaded “no contest” to a single misdemeanor charge for statements she allegedly made during a brief in-person meeting with Sununu in July 2024. She was accused of attempting to curry favor for her husband, who was under his own criminal investigation at the time. Sununu later told investigators he didn’t believe Hantz Marconi had violated the law by meeting with him, but he did find the conversation "awkward."
According to a statement issued through her attorney Thursday, Hantz Marconi acknowledged her mistakes in a formal statement to the Judicial Conduct Committee earlier this year, calling her actions “ill-advised.”
Hantz Marconi said the committee’s pursuit of additional discipline is unnecessary, given her admissions and willingness to accept sanctions, though it wasn’t clear what penalties she was open to accepting in exchange for a resolution of the case.
“However, it appears the Committee prefers a trial despite my acknowledgments, despite the resolution of the matter in court, despite Governor Sununu’s statements that ‘there was no request’ or ‘anything illegal,’ and despite the fact that I did not attempt to influence the AG’s investigation of my husband,” Hantz Marconi said in a statement. “I am disappointed that I am being subjected to this unnecessary process.”
The Judicial Conduct Committee has scheduled a hearing on the ethics charges against Hantz Marconi in December. It isn’t clear what discipline she could face, given her retirement from the court.
Retirement doesn’t end probe
Hantz Marconi was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2017 by Sununu, after a career in private practice. In 2024, Hantz Marconi visited Sununu in his office, where during a private conversation, the Department of Justice alleged she attempted to use her influence to curtail an ongoing criminal investigation into her husband, who would later face criminal charges for sharing confidential motor vehicle and boating records.
Sununu informed Attorney General John Formella about Hantz Marconi’s comments, though he later would tell investigators he didn’t believe she had crossed any ethical lines. Still, prosecutors pursued criminal charges against the justice, who was then placed on administrative leave while her own case played out.
In court records, attorneys for Hantz Marconi said she spoke with New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald before meeting with Sununu, and that he responded: “I think you can do that – You are a constituent and have concerns.” During an interview with investigators, though, MacDonald denied any knowledge of the meeting between Sununu and Hantz Marconi in advance. He said that he first learned of the meeting after Sununu called him to report the conversation with Hantz Marconi.
After more than a year of legal wrangling, including over whether MacDonald could be forced to testify in open court, Hantz Marconi entered into a plea deal on a single misdemeanor in October. After paying a $1,200 fine, her case was closed, and her law license was swiftly restored. She returned to the bench for oral arguments, but less than a month later, Hantz Marconi reversed course and announced she would no longer hear cases as a justice, and would instead focus on administrative functions within the judiciary until she reached the mandatory retirement of 70, which came in February.
The Judicial Conduct Committee previously issued a rare public statement in November 2024, confirming it had opened an ethics probe into Hantz Marconi. The committee reaffirmed in February that it was continuing to review her conduct, even following her retirement.
In the statement of charges released Thursday, the committee alleges that Hantz Marconi violated two parts of the state’s judicial code of conduct related to her conversations with Sununu, as well as a phone call weeks earlier with Stephen Duprey, who serves on the Pease Development Authority’s board of directors, which has oversight over the ports.
(Duprey serves on the NHPR Board of Directors, but has no influence over the station’s news coverage.)
The committee has scheduled three days of hearings, beginning December 7.
