Melissa Beth Countway
Education and employment
Melissa Beth Countway is the fourth woman and 111th Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. She joined the bench on January 2, 2024. Countway was previously nominated by Governor Sununu, and unanimously confirmed by the Executive Council, to the New Hampshire Circuit Court in 2017, where she served for over six years. She is the first Circuit Court judge to join the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
A New Hampshire native, Countway graduated from Alton High School and studied Math at the University of New Hampshire where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in 1993 followed by a Masters Degree in 1994. After teaching middle school math and science for five years, she attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a student leader with the Innocence Project, was a member of the North Carolina Law Review, and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.
Countway returned to New Hampshire and clerked at the New Hampshire Supreme Court with Justice Brock in 2002. After practicing law in Concord at Orr & Reno, she returned to her hometown, launching Alton Law Offices, PLLC where she had a general practice with a focus on real estate and land use law. She also worked as a police prosecutor for the Alton Police Department, and then, between 2011 and 2017, she was the elected three-term county attorney for Belknap County, responsible for felony prosecution in the Superior Court.
Countway has regularly volunteered throughout her career, serving as a founding member of the Alton Centennial Rotary Club and the Alton Business Association. She has served on various Boards, including the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Alton Elderly Housing, Inc., and the Lakes Region Conservation Trust and was a council member of the Police Standards and Training Council.
Countway lives in Alton with her family where she enjoys outdoor activities in all four seasons.
Judicial record
375 opinions where Melissa Beth Countway sat on the panel, spanning 2024–2026.
By court
By disposition
Panel votes per year
How Melissa Beth Countway's panel-seat count has shifted year by year. Overlaid with Gordon J. MacDonald for comparison (drop the overlay).
- Melissa Beth Countway
- Gordon J. MacDonald
Most-frequent co-panelists
Judges who appeared on the same opinions. aligned = same bucket (both majority, both dissent); partial = concurred in result but wrote separately; split = the meaningful disagreement (majority vs dissent).
- Patrick E. Donovan 365 shared 364 aligned 1 split compare
- Gordon J. MacDonald 294 shared 293 aligned 1 split compare
- James P. Bassett 283 shared 280 aligned 3 split compare
- Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi 76 shared 76 aligned compare
- Bryan K. Gould 46 shared 46 aligned compare
- Daniel E. Will 15 shared 15 aligned compare
Recent opinions
15 most recent opinions where Melissa Beth Countway sat on the panel.
| Docket | Court | Filed | Disposition | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-0497 | N.H. | 2026-11-04 | Reversed | State v. Cherbonneau |
| 2024-0722 | N.H. | 2026-10-28 | Affirmed | Appeal of Win Win Win, LLC |
| 2025-0543 | N.H. | 2026-10-28 | Affirmed and remanded | State v. Coffin |
| 2025-0167 | N.H. | 2026-10-22 | Reversed and remanded | State v. Hefferon |
| 2025-0655 | N.H. | 2026-10-22 | Vacated and remanded | In re X.M. |
| 2024-0239 | N.H. | 2026-10-06 | Affirmed | State v. Sales |
| 2025-0273 | N.H. | 2026-10-06 | Dismissed | Petition of Addison |
| 2025-0535 | N.H. | 2026-09-30 | Affirmed | Joseph Monagle & a. v. Judith Taylor |
| 2025-0503 | N.H. | 2026-09-30 | Reversed and remanded | Appeal of the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Labor |
| 2025-0540 | N.H. | 2026-09-24 | Affirmed in part; reversed in part | In the Matter of Nat King Rosa and Jennifer Rosa |
| 2024-0439 | N.H. | 2026-09-24 | Reversed and remanded | State v. Trueman |
| 2025-0131 | N.H. | 2026-09-16 | Dismissed | McMaster Development, LLC v. Town of Derry |
| 2024-0343 | N.H. | 2026-09-15 | Affirmed | State of New Hampshire v. Tailor Lemieux |
| 2025-0416 | N.H. | 2026-09-03 | Reversed and remanded | Appeal of Comm'r of N.H. Dep't of Labor |
| 2024-0094 | N.H. | 2026-09-03 | Vacated and remanded | Allen v. Allen |