Amendment 2024-0197h to HB1002 (2024)

Relative to fees for records under the right-to-know law.


Revision: Jan. 24, 2024, 11:23 a.m.

Rep. Kuttab, Rock. 17

January 18, 2024

2024-0197h

05/06

 

 

Amendment to HB 1002

 

Amend the bill by replacing section 2 with the following:

 

2  New Paragraph; Fees for Records.  Amend RSA 91-A:4 by inserting after paragraph VII the following new paragraph:

VIII.  A reasonable charge may be made for employee, contractor, or attorney time in excess of 10 hours to make the record available to the requestor, including time to search, retrieve, duplicate, redact, and otherwise make the record available for the requestor; provided that no charge may be made for time spent with the requestor to review the records.  Hourly costs shall not exceed $25 per hour, and no costs shall be charged for requests under 10 hours.  Prior to charging any fees, the public body or agency shall create a policy so that practices are transparent, uniform, and consistent.  Multiple requests from any person or entity to the same public body within a 30 day time period shall be considered one request.  If a party believes the estimated number of hours or cost to make the records available is unreasonable, the party may file a complaint with the ombudsman pursuant to RSA 91-A:7-b for a determination of whether the estimate is reasonable.