New Hampshire Right to Know Law
From Sunshine Review
Contents |
The Right to Know Law is a series of statutes designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of governmental bodies in New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire Open Meetings Law legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted.
To learn more about how to make a public records request in this state, please see: New Hampshire FOIA procedures
[edit] Recent news
- See also: New Hampshire transparency headlines
[edit] Transparency blocking
- N.H. lawmakers reject Right to Know requests Jun 11, 2009
More transparency blocking news from across the country.
[edit] Litigation
More FOIA litigation news from across the country.
[edit] Legislation
- GOP's Right to Know request may highlight law's gray areas Jun 11, 2009
- Experts: Right to Know law protects lawmakers' e-mail Jun 11, 2009
More FOIA legislation news from across the country.
[edit] Sunshine Guardians
No recent news. If you have news add it here
Other Sunshine Guardians from across the country.
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of lawsuits in New Hampshire. For more information go the page or go to New Hampshire sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
| Lawsuit | Year |
|---|---|
| Bradbury v. Shaw | 1976 |
| Professional Firefighters of N.H. v. Healthtrust Inc. | 2004 |
| Selkowe v. Bean | 1968 |
| Union Leader Corporation v. NH Housing Finance Authority | 1997 |
[edit] Proposed transparency legislation
[edit] 2010
Here is a list of transparency legislation for New Hampshire in 2010:
| Rating | Bill | Current Status | Progress | Information | ||||||||||||||||||||
 A | House Bill 1356 | Current Status: C (Judiciary Committee |
|
House Bill 1356 proposes an expansion of New Hampshire's definition of non-profits subject to FOIA laws to include all non-profits who receive either $100,000 or 50% of their funding from public agencies. [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] New Hampshire's transparency report card
A 2008 study, BGA - Alper Integrity Index, conducted by the Better Government Association and sponsored by Alper Services, ranked New Hampshire #41 in the nation with an overall percentage of 45.00%. [1]
A 2007 study, Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, conducted by BGA and the NFOIC, gave New Hampshire 41 points out of a possible 100, a letter grade of "F", and a ranking of 36 out of the 50 states.[2]
A 2002 study, Freedom of Information in the USA, conducted by IRE and BGA, ranked New Hampshire's law as the 29th worst in the country, giving it a letter grade of "D+".[3]
[edit] Features of the law
The New Hampshire statement of purpose declares that, "Openness in the conduct of public business is essential to a democratic society. The purpose of this chapter is to ensure both the greatest possible public access to the actions, discussions and records of all public bodies, and their accountability to the people." [4]
[edit] What records are covered?
New Hampshire law defines records as "any information created, accepted, or obtained by, or on behalf of, any public body" [5]
[edit] Exemptions
Notable exemptions include but are not limited to:
- records of grand juries
- parole board records
- Student records
- "Records pertaining to internal personnel practices; confidential, commercial, or financial information; test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination, examination for employment, or academic examinations; and personnel, medical, welfare, library user, videotape sale or rental, and other files whose disclosure would constitute invasion of privacy[6]
- Teacher certification records
- Security information
- "Preliminary drafts, notes, and memoranda and other documents not in their final form and not disclosed, circulated, or available to a quorum or a majority of the members of a public body" [7]
[edit] What agencies are covered?
New Hampshire law includes all branches of government at the state and all local levels as well as non-profit corporations whose sole member is a public agency. [8]
[edit] Who may request records?
New Hampshire's Right to Know Law indicates that all "citizens" have a right to access New Hampshire's records. However, the law does not elaborate on whether this includes only citizens of New Hampshire or citizens of the United States. [9]
[edit] Must a purpose be stated?
The only requirement for a statement of purpose is the release of statistical data sets for research that may contain personal information. [10]
[edit] How can records be used?
Exempted records may be released to other government agencies for use within only those agencies.[11] Records released as statistical data sets can only be used for research and cannot be distributed to undeclared, non-research personnel. [12]
[edit] Time allowed for response
- See also: Request response times by state.
New Hampshire law allows for 5 days to respond to records requests. Extensions are available if the person making the request is notified in writing within 5 days of when the records will be available.[9]
[edit] Fees for records
New Hampshire law allows for fees that include the cost of duplication only.[9]
[edit] Right-to-Know Oversight Commission
The New Hampshire Right-to-Know Oversight Commission was established by the New Hampshire Right to Know Law in order to better assist the state in evaluating the open records law regarding electronic communication and expand the law to account for new technological developments.
[edit] Open meetings
"All public proceedings shall be open to the public, and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meetings of those bodies or agencies. Except for town meetings, school district meetings and elections, no vote while in open session may be taken by secret ballot." [13]
[edit] Notable requests
[edit] See also
- New Hampshire Right-to-Know Oversight Commission
- New Hampshire FOIA procedures
- New Hampshire transparency headlines
- New Hampshire transparency advocates
- New Hampshire transparency legislation
- New Hampshire Open Meetings Law
[edit] External links
- New Hampshire Statutes Chapter 91-A: Access to Public Records and Meetings
- Open Government Guide to New Hampshire
- New Hampshire Dept of Justice Memo on the Right-to-Know law
- Past articles on New Hampshire
[edit] References
- ↑ Integrity Index available for download here
- ↑ Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, 2007
- ↑ Freedom of Information in the USA, 2002
- ↑ Preamble to the Public Records and Meetings statute
- ↑ New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:1.a
- ↑ New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:5 emphasis added
- ↑ New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:5
- ↑ New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:1.a
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:4
- ↑ New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:10
- ↑ New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:5.a
- ↑ New Hampshire Revised Statutes VI.91-A:10
- ↑ Section 91-A:2 D II Meetings Open to Public
| |||||||||||
 |
State of New Hampshire Concord (capital) |
|---|---|
| Transparency |
Right to Know Law | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | Transparency blogs | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations | |
| Divisions |
State |
List of Counties |
List of Cities |
List of Towns |
List of School Districts | |
| Government |
New Hampshire State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate | |
| Judiciary |
New Hampshire Supreme Court | Superior Court | Probate Courts | Family Courts | Judicial Nominating Commission | Judicial news | Judicial activist organizations | |
| Ballot Measures |
Ballot measures | List of local ballot measures | Procedures for qualifying an initiative | Amending the constitution | History of direct democracy | Campaign finance requirements | |
