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New Hampshire
House passes bill to raise minimum marriage age to 18, sending it to governor • New Hampshire Bulletin
The New Hampshire House passed a bill Thursday raising the legal age of marriage to 18, sending the legislation to Gov. Chris Sununu’s desk after years of advocacy.
Senate Bill 359, which passed 192-174, states that “no person below the age of 18 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void.” Under present law, that age is 16.
The bill would also repeal statutes that currently provide legal avenues for minors to marry. Currently, RSA 457:6 allows parents and guardians for those between 16 and 18 to petition a family court to grant permission for the marriage. That petition must include an indication of whether the Division for Children, Youth and Families has ever been involved with the child, and it allows the court to conduct an interview with each minor getting married without their parents present. SB 359 would eliminate the process entirely.
If signed into law, SB 359 would make New Hampshire one of 12 states that have banned marriage under 18 with no exceptions, a list that includes Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, according to UNICEF.
Maine currently allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with written consent from their parents, legal guardians, or custodians. But any marriage of minors in Maine would be invalid in New Hampshire if SB 359 becomes law.
The bill comes after years of pressure by Rep. Cassandra Levesque, a Barrington Democrat. In 2018, Levesque, then 19 and not yet a state representative, advocated for the Legislature to raise the marriage age to 18 from 14; House and Senate Republicans agreed to pass a bill to raise it to 16 instead. Later that year, Levesque won her first election to the House and has continued to press for the age to be raised to 18.
Levesque argued raising the age would help reduce exploitative situations.
“The committee found that this bill is important to be in law because we know that age of majority does not amount to maturity, and that there is a greater risk of human trafficking and domestic violence without these protections,” she said in remarks in the House Calendar introducing SB 359.
Republican lawmakers have opposed raising the marriage age in recent years. On Thursday, Rep. Margaret Drye, a Plainfield Republican, argued there were some circumstances in which marriage was a beneficial option for those under 18.
Drye recounted two times when a friend or a family member had obtained judicial approval for a marriage below the age of 16 because of an unexpected pregnancy.
“They elected to get married because that offered to the young woman things that she didn’t have before: stability, provision, protection, and a chance for a young family to be a family before a baby arrived,” she said. “The goal was still the same: marriage and raising a family together. They just got there in a little different timeline.”
Rep. Jess Edwards argued that taking away the possibility of marriage could lead more 16- and 17-year-olds to abortion.
“… If we continually restrict the freedom of marriage as a legitimate social option, when we do this to people who are a ripe, fertile age and may have a pregnancy and a baby involved, are we not in fact making abortion a much more desirable alternative, when marriage might be the right solution for some freedom-loving couples?” he said.
And Rep. Tony Lekas of Hudson cited his marriage to Rep. Alicia Lekas, also of Hudson, which he said began when he was 16. “And we didn’t need any outside input from anyone,” he said. “We’ve been married almost 53 years.”
Rep. Josh Yokela, a Fremont Republican, introduced two amendments that would have made an exception to the 18-year-old marriage requirement if the minors had been emancipated by a court.
But House Democrats countered that children should not be married at 16 or 17 under any circumstances. And they disagreed that emancipation should be a qualification.
“The fact of the matter is that emancipated minors cannot vote; they cannot purchase or consume tobacco or alcohol; they cannot purchase firearms,” said Rep. Peter Petrigno. “Why then would we allow for an age exception to marriage and nothing else?”
Petrigno argued that emancipated children are some of the most vulnerable children, and could be taken advantage of by adults if allowed to marry.
“Marriage is an emotional lifetime commitment based on love, not a solution to an unintended pregnancy,” he said. “We should not be putting children in a position to be taken advantage of by unsavory adults.”
Both of Yokela’s amendments were voted down. The bill will head to Sununu’s desk in the coming weeks.
BRENTWOOD — A Maine woman was indicted this month on charges that she killed her 88‑year‑old mother‑in‑law in her Exeter apartment in 2025.
Danielle Kelsen, 55, was indicted by a Rockingham County grand jury in June on one count of second‑degree murder for “recklessly” causing the death of Janet Kelsen “by inflicting blunt force injuries.” She was also indicted on a misdemeanor charge of wiretapping and eavesdropping for allegedly recording conversations between the two without consent.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt; it means the grand jury found enough evidence to move the case forward to trial.
Janet Kelsen was found dead in her apartment at 133 Front St. in Exeter on the night of Feb. 9, 2025. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death — and confirmed it was a homicide.
Kelsen was arrested in November of 2025 in Southwest Harbor, Maine, as a fugitive from justice and held without bail in the Hancock County Jail. She initially fought extradition, which forced prosecutors to seek a governor’s warrant to bring her back to New Hampshire.
Benjamin Agati, a senior NH assistant attorney general, previously said the investigation involved a lengthy examination of the physical evidence, interviewing witnesses and verifying statements. An arrest warrant for Danielle Kelsen was obtained only after authorities had sufficient evidence, he said.
The court has sealed the arrest warrant that outlines the evidence in Kelsen’s case.
On March 3, Kelsen made her first in‑state court appearance in Brentwood District Court and was ordered held without bail.
If convicted of second‑degree murder, she faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment without parole or “for such term as the court may order,” according to New Hampshire law.
Kelsen is scheduled to be arraigned in Rockingham Superior Court on June 29 at 10 a.m.
Crime
Autopsies determined both died from gunshot wounds.
Authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide after a husband and wife in their 70s were found dead Tuesday inside their home in Keene, New Hampshire, officials announced.
Officers with the Keene Police Department responded to a residence on Hurricane Road at 11:10 a.m. to conduct a welfare check, where they discovered the bodies of two adult residents, according to a statement from New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella’s office.
The victims were identified Wednesday as Donna Fairbanks, 70, and her husband Chandler Fairbanks, 72.
Autopsies were conducted Wednesday at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Concord, New Hampshire, prosecutors said.
Donna Fairbanks died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest, and her death was ruled a homicide. Chandler Fairbanks died from a gunshot wound to the head, and his death was ruled a suicide, according to Formella’s office.
“Based upon the information available at this time, it appears that on June 16, inside their home, Chandler Fairbanks shot and killed his wife Donna Fairbanks and then shot and killed himself,” prosecutors said.
Authorities said there is no threat to the public.
No additional information is expected to be released at this time, according to Formella’s office.
New Hampshire
When and where to celebrate Juneteenth in N.H., the only New England state that doesn’t recognize it as a holiday – The Boston Globe
With the newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, coming up on Friday, organizers have planned a variety of events to celebrate emancipation from slavery and reflect on American stories that often have been sidelined.
The jubilee, which Black communities had been celebrating for generations before President Joe Biden signed legislation in 2021 to make it a national holiday, has become a touchstone for broader debates about patriotism and the history of racism. While its proximity to the Fourth of July has long irked some detractors, Juneteenth this year coincides with an even bigger milestone: the nation’s 250th birthday.
JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, said her team’s lineup of events — which begin Friday and run through June 28 — are intended to be experienced alongside the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That document captured core American principles and aspirations, she said.
“If we really looked at the Declaration of Independence and strive for those ideals, we would be a stronger and better and more inclusive country than we are right now,” she said.
Juneteenth marks the anniversary of June 19, 1865, which is when the emancipation from slavery was announced in Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation. Texas was the first to recognize it as an official holiday, in 1980. A majority of the states have since followed suit, mostly in the past six years.
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that still doesn’t recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. State lawmakers rejected a proposal in 2024 that would have established the annual holiday. They decided keeping Juneteenth as an annual observance would be “the proper position for New Hampshire.”
Here are some of the Juneteenth events happening in New Hampshire:
June 17
The Hancock Town Library will host an event at 7 p.m. about the history of Juneteenth and books about African American history.
June 18
The Keene Public Library will host a film screening and Q&A on Thursday, June 18, at 6 p.m. about the 2026 documentary “Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It.”
June 19
The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will host a Freedom Walk at 9 a.m., followed by a 10 a.m. ceremony at the African Burying Ground in Portsmouth to honor marginalized communities.
The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester will host an all-ages art-making event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a special tour at 1 p.m. highlighting Black American artists.
Juneteenth Nashua will host a Freedom Day celebration from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Downtown Riverwalk.
A group called “DEI in the Lakes & Mountains” will host a celebration at Camp Hale in Center Sandwich from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The city of Keene, W.S. Badger, and the Keene Family YMCA will host a celebration from 5 to 8 p.m. at Fuller Park. The musician JohnLu will perform beginning at 6:30 p.m.
June 20
Juneteenth New England, organized by BWINH Inc., will host a celebration at 1 p.m. at Crossway Christian Church in Nashua.
June 21
The Black Heritage Trail will have live performers embody five historic African Americans from New Hampshire’s past at 11 a.m. in Portsmouth.
June 28
The Black Heritage Trail will offer a ticketed guided bus tour beginning at 10 a.m. in Portsmouth, followed by an interactive exhibit at 1 p.m. at the American Independence Center in Exeter.
This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
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