Ellen Read is fighting speeding cases after a deputy accused the New Hampshire Democratic lawmaker of driving 107 mph during a traffic stop in Rockingham County. The stop has no body-camera or dashboard-camera recording, putting her immunity claim and the sheriff's office equipment gap at the center of the case.
Ellen Read and Rockingham County
The legal fight involves two Rockingham County traffic stops, and Read is trying to dismiss both by arguing that the New Hampshire Constitution protected her while she was traveling to or from legislative session. She said she would be willing to work with the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office to help secure funding for body cameras in the next state budget.
Read told News Digital that Donald Trump backs ICE traffic stops after 2 deaths, Gustavo Petro reacts she has “consistently supported legislation governing body-worn cameras, as well as funding to help law enforcement agencies purchase them.”
Christopher Bashaw and cameras
Rockingham County Sheriff's Office Major Christopher Bashaw said the agency does not use body-worn cameras or dashboard cameras because it lacks funding to buy them. When asked whether deputies use either system, Bashaw said, “We don't have that either,” and added that the office would like to equip deputies with the technology.
New Hampshire lawmakers established the Body-Worn and Dashboard Camera Fund in 2021. The fund offers matching grants to local law enforcement agencies for cameras and for maintenance, replacement and data storage costs. All local law enforcement agencies are eligible to apply, and state law requires agencies that choose to deploy body cameras to adopt policies on when officers must record encounters, including traffic stops.
New Hampshire Constitution claim
The stop has become a constitutional dispute because Read says the speed case grew out of travel tied to legislative work, while the sheriff's office says there is no recording of the encounter. That leaves the immunity argument and the camera funding question moving on separate tracks: one in court, the other in the state budget process.
The remaining practical question is whether the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office seeks money from the fund or gets cameras through the next state budget. Either path would change whether the next serious traffic stop in the county is documented from the first minute.
