By Angeljean Chiaramida
SEABROOK — The forced resignation of Rockingham County Sheriff Daniel Linehan could provide an opportunity for a Seabrook police officer to temporarily fill the vacancy.
Seabrook police Sgt. Mark Preston said yesterday that Linehan's resignation under fire, along with that of his second in command Maj. Mark Peirce, leaves Rockingham County with a large gap in its court system. The question of how the Rockingham County Commissioners replace Linehan leaves options for anyone interested in filling the void.
Preston, an almost 30-year veteran of the Seabrook Police Department and one of Seabrook's elected state legislators, said there are a number of ways the commissioners could decide to proceed. As Preston understands the options, the commissioners could hold a special election, leave the job unfilled until the next election in November 2010, or ask Rockingham Superior Court to put together a panel and appoint a replacement.
Another option, and one that appears to be favored, is for the commissioners to post the position requesting qualified candidates to apply.
Given the right set of circumstances, Preston said he might be interested in applying for the interim position of Rockingham County sheriff and then running for the office when the interim term is up. However, there are reasons why suitable law enforcement candidates might not be willing to accept the interim position.
"With less than a year to go until the next election, by the time this person is appointed in January, it could be hard to have enough time to prove yourself in the job so you could then run for office on a solid record," Preston said. "There are a lot of things I'd have to weigh before deciding to apply for the job."
To take on the job, Preston would have to resign his seat as one of the four legislators representing Seabrook, Hampton Falls, Kensington and South Hampton in the N.H. House of Representatives. He'd also have to get permission from the town to take a year's leave of absence from his job on the Seabrook Police Department to take the interim job.
But Preston believes whoever takes over should make the move only if interested in running for office next time around, to minimize the impact a continual change of leadership would have on the functioning of the office.
Preston said he was surprised when he read news reports of the circumstances that led to Linehan's resignation on Nov. 24.
According to a release issued by N.H. Attorney General Michael Delaney, Linehan resigned after an investigation into allegations that he and Peirce leaked harmful information concerning an annulled arrest and conviction of David Lovejoy to the press. Lovejoy was Linehan's opponent in the last race for sheriff.
According to Delaney's release, his investigation resulted in "sufficient evidence" that Linehan and Peirce violated state statute by disclosing or communicating "the existence of a person's record of arrest or conviction if the record of conviction had been annulled."
"An arrest and conviction are normally public information," Preston said. "But in this case, they were annulled, and annulled means they never happened. That's why a leak like this, if it happened, would be a misdemeanor."
Delaney's release announced his office had "reached a negotiated disposition with Linehan and Peirce regarding their unlawful conduct. In return for their immediate resignations, the attorney general has agreed not to institute criminal charges against either man."
Linehan also agreed to give up his police certification and to never seek the position of sheriff or a law enforcement officer in any county in the state, according to Delaney's release.
"This type of criminal behavior will not be condoned, especially by those members of society who are sworn to uphold the law," Delaney stated in his press release. "While I am confident that misdemeanor convictions would have been obtained, (the) agreement ensures that Mr. Linehan and Mr. Peirce will immediately be removed from the highest levels of Rockingham County law enforcement and they will never again serve as members of New Hampshire's law enforcement community."
