New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph A. Foster and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Christopher J. Wagner announce that Joan Joseph, the Hancock Town Clerk, has been arrested and charged with one count of violating RSA 260:14, the Driver Privacy Act (DPA).

The DPA establishes that the Division of Motor Vehicle's records are confidential. Only certain people and entities - including municipal motor vehicle registration agents - have access to the records, and then only for certain purposes permitted by law.

Ms. Joseph is charged with violating the DPA by knowingly disclosing protected motor vehicle information, including a vehicle owner's name and address, to a person who was not authorized to obtain that information. It is alleged that Ms. Joseph had access to the information as a result of her status as town clerk and that she obtained the information for a friend who wished to know the identity of the person to whom a particular New Hampshire registration plate number was assigned.

This charge is brought as a class A misdemeanor, a crime which carries a maximum possible penalty of 12 months in jail and a $2,000 fine. Arraignment is scheduled for December 5, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. in the 8th Circuit - District Division - Jaffrey.