Bill Text: NH HB66 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to material subject to disclosure under the right to know law.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-23 - To Be Introduced 01/08/2025 and referred to Judiciary House Journal 2 [HB66 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2025-HB66-Introduced.html
HB 66-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2025 SESSION
25-0050
11/05
HOUSE BILL 66-FN
AN ACT relative to material subject to disclosure under the right to know law.
SPONSORS: Rep. Lynn, Rock. 17; Rep. Edwards, Rock. 31; Rep. Kuttab, Rock. 17; Rep. M. Smith, Straf. 10
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
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ANALYSIS
This bill allows any person to invoke the right to know law, includes preliminary drafts of documents that are distributed to a quorum of a body among the materials that must be disclosed, allows persons to request documents in either paper or electronic form, and modifies the manner in which the right to know ombudsman's ruling may be appealed to superior court.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
25-0050
11/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
AN ACT relative to material subject to disclosure under the right to know law.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Definition of Governmental Proceedings. Amend RSA 91-A:1-a, II to read as follows:
II. "Governmental proceedings" means the transaction of any functions affecting any [or all citizens of the state] person by a public body.
2 Minutes and Records Available for Public Inspection; Electronic Record Requests. Amend RSA 91-A:4, I to read as follows:
I. [Every citizen] Any person during the regular or business hours of all public bodies or agencies, and on the regular business premises of such public bodies or agencies, has the right to inspect all governmental records in the possession, custody, or control of such public bodies or agencies, including minutes of meetings of the public bodies, and to copy and make memoranda or abstracts of the records or minutes so inspected, except as otherwise prohibited by statute or RSA 91-A:5. In this section, "to copy" means the reproduction of original records by whatever method, including, but not limited to photography, photostatic copy, printing, or electronic or tape recording.
3 Access to Governmental Records and Meetings; Records Available for Public Inspection; Preliminary Drafts. Amend RSA 91-A:4, II to read as follows:
II. After the completion of a meeting of a public body, [every citizen] any person, during the regular or business hours of such public body, and on the regular business premises of such public body, has the right to inspect all notes, preliminary drafts circulated to a quorum or a majority of the public body, materials, tapes, or other sources used for compiling the minutes of such meetings, and to make memoranda or abstracts or to copy such notes, materials, tapes, or sources inspected, except as otherwise prohibited by statute or RSA 91-A:5.
4 New Paragraph; Access to Governmental Records and Meetings; Minutes and Records Available for Public Inspection. Amend RSA 91-A:4 by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraph:
V-a.(a) Any person may request governmental records electronically or by mail without physically appearing at the regular business premises of public bodies or agencies to request governmental records.
(b) At the election of the person requesting the records, the public body or agency shall provide such records electronically or by mail without requiring the person's physical appearance at its business premises to receive delivery of the records. If the person requests that the records be provided by mail, the public body or agency may charge the person the cost of postage. No charge shall be made for records delivered electronically. This subparagraph does not preclude a public body from imposing charges authorized under paragraph VIII.
(c) The public body or agency shall not be required to provide records electronically in a format other than the format under which the public body or agency regularly maintains such records, unless the application, program, or format in which the records are stored or accessed is capable of producing the records into a standard or common file format, in which case the public body or agency shall provide the records in the standard or common file format requested.
(d) The public body or agency shall not be required to provide records electronically if it lacks the technological capability to do so, if doing so would be unduly burdensome, or if doing so would compromise the security of its record-keeping system.
5 Appeals and Enforcement; Filing Fee or Surcharge. Amend RSA 91-A:7-c, I to read as follows:
I. Any party may appeal the ombudsman's final ruling to the superior court by filing a notice of appeal in superior court no more than 30 calendar days after the ombudsman's ruling is issued. The ombudsman's ruling shall be attached to the document initiating the appeal, admitted as a full exhibit by the superior court, considered by the judge during deliberations, and specifically addressed in the court's written order. [Citizen-initiated] Appeals shall have no filing fee or surcharge. The public body or public agency shall pay the sheriff's service costs if the public body or public agency, or its attorney, declines to accept service. Nothing in this section shall prevent a superior court from staying an ombudsman's decision pending appeal to the superior court.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
25-0050
11/8/24
HB 66-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to material subject to disclosure under the right-to-know law.
FISCAL IMPACT: This bill does not provide funding.
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Estimated State Impact | ||||||
| FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | ||
Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | $0 | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | General Fund | |||||
Expenditures* | $0 | Indeterminable Increase $0 to $100,000 | Indeterminable Increase $0 to $100,000 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund | |||||
Appropriations* | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None | |||||
*Expenditure = Cost of bill *Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill | ||||||
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Estimated Political Subdivision Impact | ||||||
| FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | ||
County Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
County Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | $0 | ||
Local Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Local Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | $0 | ||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill expands New Hampshire's "Right to Know" law (RSA 91-A) by allowing any person, not just New Hampshire citizens, to file requests for public records. It also includes preliminary drafts distributed to a quorum of a public body as documents subject to disclosure and permits requests to be made electronically or by mail. Additionally, the bill modifies the appeal process for Right to Know ombudsman decisions in superior court.
The Right-to-Know Ombudsman (RKO) states broadening the eligibility for filing requests may increase the volume of requests and appeals to the RKO Office, resulting in higher administrative costs. A $25 filing fee is expected for each appeal, which may provide some revenue but will not offset the increased time demands on RKO staff. The RKO office may experience an uptick in caseload, potentially leading to costs of up to $100,000, including one-time and recurring expenses (e.g., paper, ink, postage). However, as the RKO's position is salaried and not hourly, labor costs are unlikely to increase significantly. Additional staffing and resources might be needed if the workload grows substantially, but these needs are currently theoretical.
The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) anticipates that requests from out-of-state individuals or data aggregators may require further resources for processing, especially when determining exemptions and ensuring confidentiality. Some agencies already handle out-of-state requests similarly to in-state ones, but any added demand on time and resources is currently indeterminable. Requiring disclosure of preliminary drafts distributed to a quorum of public bodies is expected to have a negligible fiscal impact.
The Judaical Branch states that expanding the statute's scope could lead to more cases and litigation, impacting court resources by an indeterminable amount.
This bill may also have an indeterminable fiscal impact on counties and municipalities as they are also subject to RSA 91-A laws.
The Legislative Branch states they will not experience a fiscal impact as it the bill does not change their current practice.
It is assumed the fiscal impact will not occur until FY 2026, with no impact projected for FY 2028, as any associated costs would be accounted for in the Department and Branch budgets.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Right-to-Know Ombudsman, Department of Administrative Services, Judicial Branch and Legislative Branch
