HB 66-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
20Feb2025... 0110h
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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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill describes who may invoke the right to know law and in what manner, includes preliminary drafts of documents that are distributed to a quorum of a body among the materials that must be disclosed, allows certain 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
20Feb2025... 0110h 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 who is domiciled in New Hampshire, owns property in New Hampshire, pays New Hampshire taxes, maintains a place of business or is registered to do business in New Hampshire, or is a member of the media regardless of where located 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 such 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
2/28/25
HB 66-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT #2025-0110h)
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 who is domiciled in New Hampshire, owns property in New Hampshire, pays New Hampshire taxes, maintains a place of business or is registered to do business in New Hampshire, or is a member of the media regardless of where located, 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 that it is unknown whether this bill would result in an increase in volume of cases filed with the RKO Office, which would result 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 under $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.
The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) states that requiring disclosure of preliminary drafts distributed to a quorum of public bodies is expected to have a negligible fiscal impact.
This bill may also have an indeterminable fiscal impact on counties and municipalities as they are also subject to RSA 91-A laws.
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 budgets.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Right-to-Know Ombudsman and Department of Administrative Services
| Date | Amendment |
|---|---|
| Feb. 10, 2025 | 2025-0110h |
| Date | Body | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 22, 2025 | House | Hearing |
| Jan. 30, 2025 | House | Exec Session |
| Jan. 30, 2025 | House | Floor Vote |
| April 1, 2025 | House | Exec Session |
March 26, 2025: Executive Session: 04/01/2025 10:00 am LOB 210-211
March 12, 2025: Division I Work Session: 03/14/2025 10:00 am LOB 212
Feb. 27, 2025: Division I Work Session: 03/05/2025 01:00 pm LOB 212
Feb. 20, 2025: Referred to Finance 02/20/2025 HJ 6
Feb. 20, 2025: Ought to Pass with Amendment 2025-0110h: MA DV 321-48 02/20/2025 HJ 6
Feb. 20, 2025: Amendment # 2025-0110h: AA VV 02/20/2025 HJ 6
Feb. 10, 2025: Minority Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate
Feb. 10, 2025: Majority Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2025-0110h 01/30/2025 (Vote 13-4; RC) HC 12 P. 18
Jan. 22, 2025: Executive Session: 01/30/2025 10:00 am LOB 206-208
Jan. 15, 2025: Public Hearing: 01/22/2025 10:00 am LOB 206-208
Dec. 23, 2024: Introduced 01/08/2025 and referred to Judiciary HJ 2 P. 4