Helen Hanks, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, resigned on Monday, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Hanks’ departure is effective immediately.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte said she’ll nominate John Scippa, director of the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council, at Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting to lead the agency for up to 90 days in the interim as she searches for a new commissioner.

Ayotte also placed Paul Raymond, the assistant commissioner, on leave but did not disclose why.

The Department of Corrections has fallen under lawmakers’ microscope as Republicans seek to slim down state spending. The House of Representatives passed a version of the next state budget that would eliminate 190 positions from the department’s workforce – changes that Hanks said would create safety hazards and decimate vocational programs in state prisons.

Hanks, nominated by former governor Chris Sununu in 2017, was the first woman to steer the helm of the Department of Corrections. Her second four-year term was almost complete. She would have been up for reconfirmation this fall. Prior to becoming commissioner, Hanks served as assistant commissioner for three years. She worked for the department for 22 years.

She has also had her differences with Ayotte, who in February pubicly directed Hanks to use the term “inmates” in reference to incarcerated individuals. Hanks had preferred to use the term “residents,” which has been adopted by some people in the corrections industry to avoid the terms “inmates,” “prisoners” or “offenders,” which some view as dehumanizing.

Hanks made rehabilitation a top priority during her eight years as commissioner, saying it’s central to the department’s work. It has also been a key factor in her request to build a new men’s state prison, where she has said she hopes the design will cater more to rehabilitation and recovery than the current model does.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.