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Three Bristol County officials are up for reelection this fall. They’re among a small cohort of bureaucrats still working for counties left intact by state legislation that largely abolished the form of government in the late 1990s.
County Treasurer Christopher Saunders and County Commissioner John T. Saunders (yes, they’re related) are running unopposed.
But Tom Hoye, the current register of probate and former Taunton mayor, faces Melanie Patenaude Layden, a family and probate attorney who ran for the position in 2020.
The register of probate oversees the department in charge of keeping records for Probate and Family Courts — along with scheduling court hearings.
Hoye’s been in the position for seven years. He told The Light he’s focused on customer service. “And we’ll continue to do that to make things easier for people to access,” he said.
Layden would also focus on improving customer service, from updating infrastructure in the three Register of Probate offices — in New Bedford, Taunton, and Fall River — to making sure paperwork is reviewed promptly and accurately.
Key election dates
- The Massachusetts general election is Nov. 3, with polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- The voter registration deadline is Oct. 24.
- The vote by mail application deadline is Oct. 27 at 5 p.m.
- The early voting period is Oct. 17 to 30.
“If I can’t go there in one term and make positive changes that make a big difference in that court, then I shouldn’t deserve a second term,” Layden said in an interview with The Light.
And a pair of cousins from New Bedford, longtime members of the South Coast political scene, are running uncontested races for county treasurer and commissioner — as they’ve done for years.
Christopher Saunders is seeking another term as the county’s treasurer. Saunders has been in charge of accounting for and doling out the county’s money since 2012 after being elected in an uncontested race.
His cousin, John T. Saunders, is also seeking reelection for another four-year term in an uncontested race for commissioner. It’s his third such race for the office since 2014.
Neither John nor Chris Saunders responded to repeated requests for interviews from The Light to talk about their priorities and campaigns leading up to Election Day.
‘Every case… starts and ends in our office.’
The register of probate is more than a records custodian, according to Hoye. “It goes a lot deeper than that,” he told The Light, “because every case that is filed in the Probate and Family Court starts and ends in our office.”
The position is held for six-year terms and paid a salary of about $174,000 last year, according to state payroll data from 2025. The office reviews legal paperwork to make sure it’s correctly filled out before scheduling a hearing in the right court.
“About 65% of our filings are domestic or family issues,” Hoye said. “About 35% of the issues are probate, dealing with things like wills, estates, conservatorships, guardianships, and things like that.”
Hoye, a former mayor of Taunton, was appointed to the then-vacant register position in 2019. One of his priorities as register of probate, if reelected, is to further enhance customer service within the office.
“We’ve really tried to streamline our processing, which is like decreased wait times… for hearings,” Hoye said. “We’ve increased our staff training, which at the same time has reduced clerical errors.”
Layden, an attorney with over 30 years of experience, is also from Taunton. She ran for the register position in 2020 but lost to Hoye by almost 37,000 votes. She also said she’d prioritize customer service if elected.
That includes small changes, like adding more tables for lawyers to place their case files inside the office, to more substantial policy changes.
“I’d probably stop the deli system,” Layden said about the way the department’s workers queue people waiting to speak with them.
Instead, she said she’d move back to dividing the clerks into two sections. “Domestic relations over here. And then probate, estates, and guardianship over here,” Layden said. “A very distinct separation of those two areas.”
She said when people line up with each other while waiting, small interactions can lead to “just a little bit of dialogue that helps someone feel more comfortable utilizing the court.”
Different types of experience
Layden has been practicing law for over 30 years, concentrating on the Probate and Family Courts. Even before becoming an attorney, she was in and out of the Registry of Probate while working as a title examiner.
That’s why she said she and others were surprised when then-Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Hoye to be interim register in 2019. In Layden’s view, he didn’t have the specialized legal background needed to do the job.
While the office might seem overly bureaucratic in nature, she said the paperwork filed there has real-world implications.
After that, she told her father, who is also an attorney, “I have a right to care about this Probate Court,” she said.
“And I decided without any political experience in my background, or anything within my family’s background, that I was going to run for this office,” Layden said.
Hoye told The Light he thinks he’s “the only candidate in the race with management experience.”
“I did it when I was mayor of Taunton and I’ve done it here,” Hoye said. “So I’ve been in a management position for 15 years.”
During his time as register of probate, Hoye said he has expanded the office in an effort to make the department more accessible to the people who need to use it. If elected, he said he’ll continue that mission.
Read the candidates’ financial disclosure statements
䷉ → Tom Hoye
䷉ → Melanie Patenaude Layden
䷉ → Christopher Saunders
䷉ → John T. Saunders
Treasurer and commissioner
Bristol’s treasurer is in charge of keeping track of money belonging to the county, according to state law. Chris Saunders, the current treasurer, was first elected in 2012 — and has won his seat unopposed since then — and is seeking another six-year term. He was paid an annual salary of close to $111,000, according to the county’s fiscal-year 2025 budget. He also serves as a member of the New Bedford Retirement Board.
Saunders did not respond to requests for interviews by The Light to talk about his role as treasurer, his priorities and what — if any — campaigning he’s done leading up to Election Day.
While the treasurer oversees county money, the three-member county commission is in charge of a $34 million budget, along with Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton — and the county’s print shop, located in New Bedford. Commissioners net an annual salary of about $40,000, according to the county’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
John T. Saunders, a current commissioner, is up for reelection in an uncontested race. It’s been that way since 2014, when Saunders was first elected to the position. He is a former New Bedford city councilor.
Saunders also did not respond to interview requests from The Light to talk about the upcoming election and what his role means, given the dwindled number of county governments left intact.
‘Abolished counties’
Eight counties were abolished by state law passed between 1997 and 2000, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts office.
That includes Middlesex, Hampden and Worcester counties, which were all dismantled with emergency legislation passed in 1997. The counties were in financial trouble, according to the legislation, and in debt to the state. (The “abolished” counties still have sheriffs, district attorneys, and Superior Courts.)
Bristol is one of six Massachusetts counties that remain “intact,” according to the state. Plymouth County is also intact. So are Dukes, Nantucket, and Barnstable — organized as the Cape Cod Regional Government.
Norfolk is also in the intact category. But come November, its voters will answer a nonbinding ballot question on whether state representatives should be directed to file and support legislation abolishing the area’s county government.
Nathan Collins is an investigative journalist and a Report for America corps member, covering the fishing industry, oceans and the blue economy. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions. Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@newbedfordlight.org.
