Section 273-D:1 - The BoardI. There is hereby established a personnel appeals board consisting of 5 members, not more than 3 of whom shall be from the same political party. At least one member of the board shall have been employed as a labor relations or personnel professional for at least 5 years. At least one member shall have been employed within a public personnel field of employment for at least 3 years. At least one member shall be an attorney licensed to practice in the state of New Hampshire and experienced in the conduct of adjudicative hearings and decision writing.II. Each member shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the council for a term of 3 years and a person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed for the unexpired term. Each member of the board shall hold office until a successor is appointed and qualified. The governor shall designate one member as chairperson of the board. The board shall elect one member to serve as vice-chairperson. Both the chairperson and the vice-chairperson shall be attorneys and members in good standing of the New Hampshire Bar Association. No member of the board shall be employed full time in any agency of state government.III. Three members shall constitute a quorum to conduct hearings, deliberative sessions, and business meetings. Any board member who was not part of the quorum of the board for an entire hearing shall refrain from taking part in the deliberative session for that case.IV. The board shall meet as often as necessary to conduct its business, provided that no more than 30 days shall elapse between meetings or hearings whenever there is any appeal pending before the board.V. Members of the board shall convene in person to conduct appeal hearings to deliberate on concluded cases and pending motions, and to conduct periodic business meetings associated with their duties. For each appeal before the board, a member of the board shall be designated as the presiding officer, who shall preside over any matters associated with the appeal for which he or she has been designated as the presiding officer and may, with or without a full quorum of the board, hold any necessary prehearing conference with the parties to an appeal. VI. Members of the board shall designate one or more members to participate in legislative and regulatory matters that pertain to the board.VII. Subject to availability of funds, the board may hire staff, purchase equipment and lease appropriate premises as it deems necessary to carry out the business and functions of the board. All staff working on behalf of the board shall be classified employees and shall perform such duties for the board as the board may assign, including the following: (a) Preparing notices and other documents required under RSA 541-A as directed by the board and distributing such notices and documents upon the approval of the board;(b) Scheduling the conduct of all personnel appeals board proceedings, with the approval of the board, so as to ensure timely and efficient conduct of such proceedings; (c) Preparing and maintaining the record, as required by RSA 541-A, of all adjudicative proceedings conducted by the personnel appeals board;(d) Preparing, maintaining as public record, and continuously updating a document which shall summarize the findings and decisions of the personnel appeals board; and(e) Preparing and maintaining materials and drafts for the board's review of and updates to administrative rules.VIII. Members of the board shall read appeal records, motions, court decisions, and other evidentiary materials outside of scheduled hearings and meetings and in preparation for them. The members shall therefore be paid a stipend of $200 in each biweekly state payroll cycle for such work performed outside of scheduled sessions. Members of the board shall also be paid $400 for each day devoted to the work of the board and shall be reimbursed for travel, professional development, and other business-related expenses. Any board member designated by the chairperson of the board shall be paid $50 per hour for time spent on the drafting of final decisions on the merits of appeals decided by the board.IX. No board member shall participate in any case or issue before the board in which he or she has a potential conflict of interest. A conflict of interest shall include any case or action in which a member has a personal or professional interest and any case or action in which a member is personally or professionally associated with any of the parties involved.X. Members of the board shall be removed only as provided in RSA 4:1.XI. The current board previously appointed and approved under RSA 21-I:46 shall continue to serve as board members until the end of their current term or as otherwise replaced in accordance with the statute.Added by 2024, 259:1, eff. 9/17/2024.