Revision: Feb. 7, 2024, 1:33 p.m.
Rep. Kofalt, Hills. 32
February 7, 2024
2024-0559h
05/02
Floor Amendment to HB 1002
Amend the bill by replacing sections 2 and 3 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 records available to the requestor, including time to search, retrieve, duplicate, redact, and otherwise make the records 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. For requests to public bodies, costs and/or fees shall be no more than $250 per request for any request made by an individual who is a resident and/or taxpayer of the political subdivision of the public body. For requests to state agencies, costs and/or fees shall be no more than $250 per request made by an individual who is a New Hampshire resident and/or taxpayer. Prior to charging any fees, the public body or agency shall create and publish 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, and the statutory fee for filing the complaint shall be waived.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 120 days after its passage.