New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald has permanently stepped down from the state's highest bench as part of a formal settlement resolving an extensive ethics inquiry into his administrative actions. The abrupt departure concludes a nearly year-long investigation conducted by the state Judicial Conduct Commission regarding his oversight of internal personnel matters within the judicial branch.
Under the negotiated agreement, the 64-year-old jurist acknowledged committing violations of three separate provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct. In doing so, MacDonald agreed to surrender his judicial appointment and vacate his leadership post as chief justice effective immediately, averting what could have become a contentious public proceeding.
The resignation comes seven weeks after MacDonald initially announced that he was taking a medical leave of absence from the high court. Following the formalization of the disciplinary agreement, MacDonald tendered a concise letter of resignation to the office of Gov. Kelly Ayotte, formally ending his tenure leading the state judiciary.
In an official statement released through his legal counsel, MacDonald acknowledged that he had fallen short of his professional obligations during the handling of internal court employment decisions. He stated that he accepted full responsibility for these shortcomings and explained that resigning was necessary to protect the court’s integrity and spare the judicial system the disruption of an extended public hearing.
The final settlement was reviewed and sanctioned by an independent panel of assigned jurists rather than the remaining members of the Supreme Court. The review body, which comprised retired Superior Court Justice Tina Nadeau alongside four active superior court judges, confirmed that MacDonald's admitted ethical breaches warranted his immediate and permanent departure from the bench.
At the core of the Judicial Conduct Commission's probe was MacDonald’s direction of an unusual and complex staffing arrangement concerning his former chief of staff, Dianne Martin. Martin had previously served alongside MacDonald when he led the state Department of Justice as attorney general prior to his elevation to the state Supreme Court.
The personnel maneuvers involved shifting Martin out of her role as administrative director of the Office of the Courts, a position carrying an annual salary of $143,800. Although she was officially relieved of those primary duties on February 28, she remained on paid administrative leave until her formal layoff took effect on April 1.
Only days later, on April 4, Martin was hired into a higher-paying role as general counsel for the Office of Bar Admissions, an entity overseen by the Supreme Court that evaluates candidates seeking to practice law in the state. In this new position, Martin was granted an annual compensation package of $154,000, while also receiving nearly $50,000 in accumulated leave and related benefits during the transition.
The controversial arrangement prompted an investigation after a court whistleblower provided evidence to investigators from the office of Attorney General John Formella. The whistleblower stated that Christopher Keating, who stepped in to succeed Martin as the court system's chief administrator, explicitly directed her to carry out the administrative transactions on MacDonald's direct orders.
According to investigative records, the whistleblower stated that Keating insisted the directives originated directly from the chief justice and had to be executed without objection. Just one month before finishing her standard six-month probationary term of employment, the whistleblower was terminated by Keating, who alleged that her conduct was unprofessional.
Reporting from the Union Leader previously indicated that the three other associate justices who sat on the Supreme Court at that time had also participated alongside MacDonald in the collective determinations regarding the personnel shifts for both Martin and Keating.
Documents made public by the commission revealed that the internal discord surrounding the employment changes triggered significant friction among the justices. In a March letter addressed to MacDonald, the regulatory commission detailed an incident on March 3, 2025, in which the chief justice allegedly lost his temper after colleagues pushed to implement Martin’s immediate layoff.
The commission's findings described MacDonald entering the chambers of Associate Justice Patrick Donovan, slamming the office door, and shouting profanities in an intense confrontation. Records indicate that MacDonald engaged in a similarly aggressive verbal altercation later that same day with Justice Melissa Countway, reflecting what regulators identified as a recurring pattern of heated outbursts directed at judicial colleagues.
During the course of the regulatory inquiry, MacDonald also addressed workplace rumors alleging that he and Martin shared a romantic relationship. MacDonald firmly denied the allegations in his written responses to the commission, stating that he had proactively informed the judicial branch's general counsel and each individual supreme court justice that the rumors were entirely groundless.
MacDonald maintained that the underlying personnel decisions were multifaceted and had evolved rapidly under complicated circumstances. Nevertheless, the resolution reached with judicial regulators ensures that the state's highest court will transition toward new leadership while concluding the high-profile inquiry into the court's executive administration.
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