We have, from time to time in this space, suggested that the time is right for New Hampshire to revisit some of its constitutional issues by means of a constitutional convention.

The last one was held in 1984. It gave us, among other things, annual legislative sessions (which led to the rise of the state’s lobbyist class) and an amendment prohibiting the state from foisting unfunded mandates on local governments (ask any local elected official how that has worked out).

There is, however, another way to change the state Constitution:Amendments can be placed on the ballot by three-fifths vote of both chambers of the Legislature. If they are approved by two-thirds of the state’s voters, the amendment passes.

Every session of the Legislature usually includes a half dozen or so proposed constitutional amendments, and most go nowhere, though some come close. CACR 1, for example, was a proposal to elect the state’s attorney general, who is now appointed by the governor and approved by the state’s Executive Council. Electing the state’s highest law-enforcement officer is a particularly bad idea, we think, especially since the way the position is filled has yielded some pretty impressive results. Past AGs went on to serve as governor (Steve Merrill), in the U.S. Senate (Kelly Ayotte, Warren Rudman), the U.S. House (Louis Wyman) and on the U.S. Supreme Court (David H. Souter).

Other suggestions for changing the state Constitution in the last biennium included proposals to make the governor’s job a four-year term, allow the attorney general to appoint county attorneys, require judges to be approved by the Legislature (they’re currently nominated by the governor and approved by the state’s Executive Council) and others declaring that the people of the state have the right to self-government, to travel under the conveyance of their choice and a bunch of others that would only muddy the waters.

One that wasn’t on the ballot but should be is a proposal to do away with the constitutional office of register of probate. To her credit, former New Hampshire House Speaker Donna Sytek is running for the job in Rockingham County because she wants to eliminate it.

Probate court used to be an important function of county government. The register of probate used to be in charge of wills, trusts and estates, guardianships and involuntary commitment proceedings, adoptions, and name changes, among other things.

Most of those functions were taken over by the state Circuit Court system in a 2011 reshuffling, but the position remains in the Constitution, though the salary for those positions has been cut to only $100 per year – the same amount that legislators make in the Granite State.

Sytek wants to see the Legislature put a question on the ballot asking voters if they want to remove the position from the state’s governing document.

That’s an amendment worthy of passage.