From tomorrow's New York Times:

Governor Proposes Closing 8 Courts in New Hampshire

by Katie Zezima

Gov. John Lynch of New Hampshire on Thursday proposed closing a quarter of the state's district courts as part of a plan to deal with a $500 million two-year budget gap.

The plan, which would close eight of New Hampshire's 33 district courts, comes as the state's superior courts are halting jury trials for a month because of the state's fiscal woes. The pause in trials, which will continue on a rotating basis until April, is expected to save the state about $73,000.

Closing the small district courts and sending their cases to larger courts has been mulled for years. It is expected to save $2 million a year for two years, mainly the cost of leasing court buildings, without layoffs.

Even so, some worry the consolidation could change the state's judicial landscape.

"A lot of them seem like they could be easily done," said Chuck Temple, a professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H., and director of the school's criminal practice clinic. "But it's going to be a fairly drastic change to a system I think has been working well, both civilly and criminally, for a long time."

Update on Friday, February 13 This story appeared on page A15 of the national edition.