New Hampshire Right to Know Law

From Sunshine Review

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

State sunshine
State laws
How to ask for records
Transparency headlines
Statutory changes
Notable FOIA requests
State sunshine lawsuits
State court cases
E-mail access
Private agency, public dollars
The WikiFOIA portal

The Right to Know Lawis a series of statutes designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of governmental bodies in New Hampshire.

The Open Meetings Law legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted.

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]

Public Records

"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]

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." [5]

Who May Request New Hampshire Records?

Any citizen of New Hampshire may request public records. However, any person aggrieved by violations of the New Hampshire Right to Know Law may seek remedy, so it is possible that the term "citizen" is not limiting. "Every citizen... has the right to inspect all public records". [6] [7]

For requester residency requirements in other states, see the list of who can make public record requests by state.

See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ Integrity Index available for download here
  2. ↑ Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, 2007
  3. ↑ Freedom of Information in the USA, 2002
  4. ↑ Preamble to the Public Records and Meetings statute
  5. ↑ Section 91-A:2 D II Meetings Open to Public
  6. ↑ NH RSA, 91-A:4
  7. ↑ Open Government Guide to New Hampshire
Retrieved from "http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/New_Hampshire_Right_to_Know_Law"