Strafford County’s race for sheriff provided Democrats with one of the few bright spots in Tuesday’s otherwise dismal election, as former North Hampton Police Chief Kathryn Mone became the first woman to win the office in county history.
Mone, who was ousted from North Hampton after her department arrested a woman for drinking beer in her own living room, is taking over for the last elected sheriff, alleged felon and fellow Democrat Mark Brave.
Mone told Foster’s Daily Democrat she’s ready to move the sheriff’s department and the community forward, past Brave’s scandal.
“The staff there had nothing to do with what happened with Mark Brave, and I am disappointed that he continues to be a distraction to the good work done here. But, to that end, I want every resident in Strafford County to expect and demand full transparency from me. I want to help build trust again, and I need people to demand that of me,” Mone told the paper.
Mone says she wants to connect with the community and build relationships. Presumably, she’ll hope to avoid the management style that eventually led to her ouster in North Hampton.
“(Mone) would rather get sued for taking action than not,” one North Hampton officer told a Municipal Resources Incorporated (MRI) investigator hired by the town.
North Hampton agreed to pay resident Colleen Loud $150,000 in 2022 to avoid a lawsuit stemming from her 2018 arrest for drinking beer at home, alone, while watching a baseball game. Initially, Mone supported the arrest, according to the MRI investigation into the matter.
Loud was taken to jail and her home subjected to an illegal search by North Hampton officers who suspected she might be intoxicated. Police knocked on Loud’s door to ask if she had witnessed a car accident that occurred outside her Granite Drive home.
Arresting officer Sgt. Asa Johnson told investigators with MRI that Mone initially praised his decision to make an arrest. Days later, however, she told him she disagreed with some of the things he did but said she could not discuss it.
Mone’s tenure in North Hampton ended in the spring of 2023 after a disagreement with selectmen over how to punish Johnson, the officer she originally praised for Loud’s arrest. Sources in North Hampton government told NHJournal Mone was a difficult boss whose management style caused a staff exodus. When Mone left North Hampton, the department was down to a skeleton crew of about three officers.
But now she’s sheriff, and voters in Strafford County seem to like firsts. Brave was the first elected Black sheriff in New Hampshire history. Last year, he became the first African American sheriff to be charged for allegedly stealing taxpayer money to fund his extramarital affairs and then lying to a grand jury about it.
The trial in that case is slated for next year.
Brave was recently indicted on new charges alleging he subsequently lied to the courts about his income in order to secure a free public defense attorney, another first for an elected sheriff, white or Black. He allegedly hid the money he obtained from the sale of his house, bought a sports car, and paid a year’s lease on an apartment in Massachusetts. He’s also charged with lying about his place of residence as he was then under court orders to remain living in Massachusetts.
On Tuesday, he became the first Stratford County sheriff to get placed on the state’s Exculpatory Evidence Schedule, but not for any of the alleged crimes.
The EES, sometimes called the Laurie List, is a list of police officers with serious credibility problems kept by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. The list was secret for years, and the identities of the officers is only disclosed to defense attorneys as needed at trial. A law change in 2021 requires the attorney general to publish a public list which is updated quarterly.
The list does not give detailed reasons for the inclusion of any of the officers, and Brave was added for an “untruthfulness” incident that took place on Dec. 9, 2022. That’s the day Brave’s ex-wife, Jaimie Brave, was arrested for drunk driving in Portsmouth.
Mark Brave is alleged to have lied to county officials, saying he was “home watching the kids” when his wife was arrested. He also gave his deputies the impression he was not in the car, joking with them that “she should have called an Uber.”
NHJournal uncovered police reports that show Brave was in fact a passenger in the car when his wife was stopped. A police report and an investigative report from MRI commissioned by the county found Brave was also intoxicated and unable to drive after failing a breathalyzer test. Brave was then taken into protective custody by a New Hampshire State Police trooper and given a ride to a friend’s house. Meanwhile, Jamie Brave was taken into custody and booked.
