A New Hampshire circuit court judge is facing a slate of ethics charges over his handling of a guardianship case in Milford, including an allegation that he performed his own investigation into a party in the case outside of the courtroom.
The New Hampshire Judicial Conduct Committee is accusing Judge Todd Prevett of multiple violations of the state’s code of conduct for allegedly showing bias against the mother in the case and researching her criminal background. He’s also accused of allegedly misleading investigators about his actions.
Prevett hasn’t yet responded to the committee’s charging documents. He continues to hear cases at the Milford District Court, according to a state Judicial Branch spokesperson.
For Prevett, who was appointed to the bench in 2021, this isn’t his first time facing potential discipline: He was formally reprimanded in 2024 after he attempted to gain entry into another courthouse to file paperwork in a personal case while the building was closed. In that case, he admitted his mistake and was assigned a senior judge as a mentor.
The latest ethics probe stems from a December 2024 case involving a mother seeking to reunify with her child who had been placed in a guardianship with relatives nearly 10 years earlier. According to the Judicial Conduct Committee, Prevett made a series of questionable moves, including a written order denying the mother’s request for reunification that “contained several expressions of hostility and disdain towards the mother.”
The committee also said Prevett looked up her criminal record in Massachusetts in an online court portal, even though those records had not been presented as evidence in the case.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court overturned Prevett’s initial ruling in the guardianship case and sent it back to a lower court for further review. The justices also notified a supervisory judge to look into Prevett’s handling of the matter.
In December 2025, Prevett sent a letter to the Judicial Conduct Committee defending his actions in the case. The committee’s investigation, however, determined Prevett likely violated several sections of the state’s ethics code, and alleged that Prevett’s own explanation “lacked candor” and was factually inaccurate.
A public hearing on the allegations against Prevett has not yet been scheduled.
In the 2024 disciplinary proceedings against him, Prevett was accused of trying to use his position on the court to obtain access to a different courthouse. He arrived at a court in Concord to file paperwork related to a personal guardianship case, but the facility was slated to open late that morning due to a staff-wide training.
Prevett identified himself to a security officer as a judge in a different courthouse, and said he “needed a favor.” The security guard ultimately denied Prevett entry to the building until it opened to the public.
Prevett later admitted to investigators that his actions were improper. At the time, he had no other disciplinary infractions on his record.
