A federal request to evaluate a Merrimack site for a detention facility moved through a state department without anyone telling the Governor, the Executive Council, or the state senator who represents the town. The commissioner called the request routine.
I have lost confidence in the leadership in your department, and I think you ought to consider moving up your resignation.
NH Journal, February 5, 2026
Wheeler did not accept that for a second. Somebody walking in and proposing to build a prison in New Hampshire is nowhere near routine, and he said so to her face.
Then he walked through the department’s record of failures and told the commissioner to move up her resignation. She resigned days later.
Merrimack is in District 5. Wheeler answers to the people who live there, and he did it in public with the cameras on.
