Back page: Former New Hampshire speaker runs for, against new office
June 10, 2016
FILE - In this Thursday, April 8, 1999, file photo, former House Speaker Donna Sytek speaks at a news conference in Concord, N.H. Sytek is now running for Rockingham County's Register of Probate, a position she hopes to eliminate. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former New Hampshire House speaker is running for a new office — by running against it.
Salem Republican Donna Sytek retired in 2000 but signed up this week to run for Rockingham County register of probate. Her platform is to eliminate the obscure and essentially meaningless position.
The register of probate in each county used to be a full-time job. But its duties were shifted to appointed clerks and deputies when the probate, district and family courts were folded into the state's Circuit Court system in 2011.
The state Constitution requires the election of registers of probate. So lawmakers retained the position, stripped away its responsibilities and set the annual salary at $100 per year.
Sytek says she's running to promote a constitutional amendment to eliminate the position.
