For the administration of justice the State has a supreme court and a superior court, each county has a probate court, and some towns as well as the cities have a municipal court. The supreme court consists of a chief justice and four associate justices; the superior court, of a chief justice and five associate justices. The supreme court sits at Concord on the first Tuesday of every month except July and August ; while the superior court holds two or three sessions a year in each of the ten counties. Each county has a single probate judge, who has jurisdiction over the probat ing of wills, insolvency proceedings, decisions regarding adoption of children, and similar judicial functions. Supreme, superior and probate judges are appointed by the governor and council to serve until they are 7o years of age. Municipal judges are simi larly chosen. Like justices of the peace, they have jurisdiction in criminal cases where the punishment is by fine not exceeding $20, by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both, and in minor civil cases. A municipal court has the same jurisdiction as that of justices of the peace, and municipal judges possess in addition, concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court in certain cases where the title to real estate is not involved and the damage demanded does not exceed $100. Justices of the peace are appointed for a term of 5 years only, but they may be reappointed. Local affairs are administered by counties (ten in number), towns (townships), village districts and cities. In each county a convention, composed of representatives from the towns, meets every two years to levy taxes and to authorize expendi tures for grounds and buildings whenever more than $1,000 are required. For the discharge of other county functions the quali fied electors of each county elect every two years three com missioners, a sheriff, a solicitor, a treasurer, a register of deeds and a register of probate; two auditors also are appointed an nually by the supreme court. The county commissioners have the care of all county property, as well as of county paupers; and once every four years they are required to visit each town of their county, inspect the taxable property therein, determine whether it is incorrectly assessed and report to the State board of equalization. In each town a regular annual meeting of the qualified electors is called on the second Tuesday in March for the transaction of miscellaneous business and the election of town officers.
Finances.—The total valuation of property for the purposes of taxation in 1935 was $558,986,024; the State levy $18,284,581 or $31.7o per $1,000. The chief sources of the income of the State for the year ending June 30, 1936 were the general property tax, motor vehicle licence fees, the gasolene (petrol) tax, railroad taxes, interest from sinking fund securities, legacy taxes, tax on foreign insurance companies and a tax on telephone companies. The principal disbursements were for highways ($4,575,545), public schools ($1,525,378), State institutions ($2,952,120), sink ing fund ($516,233), protection ($593,387), general government ($693,871). The total receipts and disbursements for the year ending June 30, 1936 were $30,745,450.12 and $29,531,508.99, respectively. The cash and cash items on hand July 1, 1936 was $3,145,016 as compared with $1,931,074 a year before.
Education.—New Hampshire formed a part of Massachusetts when, in 1647, the general court of that province passed the famous act requiring every town in which there were 5o house holders to maintain a school for teaching reading and writing, and every town in which there were ioo householders to maintain a grammar school. During the i9th and early part of the 20th cen tury various experiments for improving the public school system were tried. The public school system, as now constituted, has at its head a State board of education composed of the governor and seven other persons, two of whom are trustees of the University of New Hampshire. The actual administrative work is carried on by a commissioner of education, appointed by the board of educa tion for an indefinite term, and a deputy commissioner. Each town is constituted a school district, and some special districts are organized under special acts of the legislature. For the pur pose of inspecting and supervising all institutions in which State money is spent, the several school districts in the State are com bined into supervision unions consisting of one or more school districts. The schools are maintained chiefly out of the proceeds of a district school tax, which must not be less than $3.5o on each $1,000 of assessed property. To this is added a "Literary Fund" (designed originally for founding a college) from various sources. All children between the ages of 8 and 16 are required to attend either a public or an approved private school for the full term unless they are more than 14 years old and have com pleted the studies prescribed for the elementary schools, or have been excused by the school board on account of physical or mental infirmity. The school enrolment, for the year ending June 30, 1934 showed 77,753 attending public schools and 30,512 attendirg parochial and private schools. Of the total public school enrolment 58,688 were in the elementary grades, and 59,065 in high schools. The rural schools of the State had an attendance of 36,639 pupils. The total expended on public education in was $5,905,835.
The only State institutions of higher education are the Plymouth Normal school (1870) at Plymouth, the Keene Normal school (5909) at Keene, and the University of New Hampshire, or ganized as a department of Dartmouth college in 1866, but re organized as the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts and removed to Durham as a separate institution in 1891. It was given its present name in 1923 by an act of the legislature. Other institutions of higher learning in the State are Dartmouth college (non-sectarian, 5769), at Hanover, and Saint Anselm's college (Roman Catholic, 1893), at Manchester.
Charities and Corrections.—The State charitable and cor rectional institutions include the New Hampshire School for feeble-minded children, at Laconia; the New Hampshire Soldiers' Home, at Tilton ; the New Hampshire Industrial School, at Man chester; the New Hampshire Hospital for the Insane, and the State prison, at Concord; and the New Hampshire sanatorium for tuberculars, at Glencliff in the town of Warren. The State also makes annual appropriations for the care and education of blind and deaf and dumb persons in institutions outside of the State. Each county has an almshouse and house of correction.