BARTLETT OFFICIALS DISCUSS EX-CHIEF

BARTLETT -- Two months after the former police chief of this community was
indicted on charges of extortion and theft involving town accounts he
allegedly established, the selectmen are providing answers to the questions
residents have asked for months.

In a six-page statement issued yesterday afternoon, Selectmen Gene
Chandler, who also is Speaker of the New Hampshire House, Doug Garland and
David Shedd said they have been waiting for "the opportunity to comment" on
the six-month investigation of former police Chief Bob Snow.

Snow, 54, who had been the chief of this community in the Mount Washington
Valley for more than 20 years, was indicted in November on charges that he
extorted and stole more than $48,000 from a slush fund he established by
skimming money from town, school district, towing and storage, parking and
witness fee accounts over the past nine years. Investigators say he
allegedly put the money into the Bartlett Police Department's drug escrow
account, normally kept by police departments for drug forfeiture money.

On the advice of officials from the New Hampshire Attorney General's
Office, the selectmen have not commented on the matter. Snow is free on
bail, pending a trial in Carroll County Superior Court. He resigned as
chief in August and according to the selectmen's statement, was paid
$11,750.88 in settlement for 60 days of unused vacation time accumulated
over the past six years.

Since the investigation began in July, according to the selectmen's
statement, the board has reviewed and developed policies they say will
safeguard the town from such incidences again.

"While hindsight is always easy, the selectmen's office felt that the
procedures in place and trust in our department heads provided sufficient
protection against the alleged wrongdoing by Chief Snow," the statement
reads. "Whether proven or not, the allegations showed a weakness in our
system and we have taken the steps necessary to help protect the system."

The criminal complaints against Snow allege that he deposited checks into a
drug escrow account and later made cash withdrawals from the account. He is
also accused of dropping or reducing charges against people in exchange for
checks made out to the DARE anti-drug education program.

The selectmen say "the so-called drug account" was established years ago
with proceeds from drug arrests and forfeiture of money and assets under
guidelines from federal and state statutes.

"There was no accounting of this account to the selectmen's office," the
statement said. "The reasons for this are to protect the identities of
witnesses, informants, etc. How much the selectmen can and should know
about this account, if we continue to have one, is something we will be
asking federal and state authorities."

Regarding the DARE fund, the selectmen's statement maintains, "there are no
funds missing or misappropriated from any budgeted town account." Every
cent, they said, has been accounted for and listed in the town report.

"Monies may not have gone to the school for the DARE program, but there are
no town funds unaccounted for or missing from the DARE line item budget,"
their statement reads.

Since the investigation began, the selectmen said they notified "every
department head that we need to know if they have any separate accounts for
any purpose which are not or have not been reported to the selectmen."

In addition, selectmen said, they have "notified all banks in the area and
will be notifying businesses . . . that no one - town employee or not - is
allowed to cash any check made payable to the town of Bartlett or any
department thereof.

In the aftermath of the investigation and subsequent indictments handed up
against Snow, the selectmen have faced questions about auditing procedures.
Snow and former town auditor Kathy Nealley, who resigned three weeks after
Snow, were married last month in Massachusetts.

"The auditor only fills out a state form which is reviewed by the state,"
according to the selectmen's statement. "There is nothing any previous
auditors found or could have found relative to any allegations pending
against Chief Snow. The auditors' report only seeks to reconcile funds
reported to the town."

Regarding severance pay to Snow following his resignation, which came
months before any charges were filed against him, the selectmen said advice
from the town attorney on three occasions stated that the town was required
by law to pay an employee for unused vacation time.

As far as retirement benefits, they said, the town had paid into the New
Hampshire Retirement System.

"It is the NHRS that determines and pays the chief any retirement benefits
that he is entitled to and the town does not have any control over that
program," the selectmen's statement reads.

Snow's tenure with the town, which spanned more than two decades, was not
without complaint or contention.

"There have been many selectmen in and out of office over the past few
years and a number of police officers who have left the department for
various reasons and a number of businesses, banks, attorneys, court
officials, all of whom in hindsight may be able to point to some
transgression by the former police chief," the selectmen's statement said.
"But there was never one complaint to the selectmen's office regarding any
alleged criminal activity."

In a plea agreement in November, Snow agreed to plead guilty to the charges
in exchange for one year in prison, full disclosure and restitution.
Carroll County Superior Court Judge James O'Neill III rejected the plea
bargain. Snow returned to court last month and pleaded innocent to all charges.