“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, discussion and records of all public bodies, and their accountability to the people.” RSA 91-A:1.
The Right to Know Law affects every aspect of local government in our state. Every board, committee, commission and subcommittee in every town, city and village district in New Hampshire must comply with this law. As a result, every local official and employee should be aware of the law and what their responsibilities are regarding both public meetings and governmental records.
There is a lot of information below – so don’t wax over… We will highlight ones in particular that pertain to current situations within our own Town Government!
TITLE VI
PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER 91-A
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENTAL RECORDS AND MEETINGS
Section 91-A:4
91-A:4 Minutes and Records Available for Public Inspection. –
I. Every citizen 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.
I-a. Records of any payment made to an employee of any public body or agency listed in RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(a)-(d), or to the employee's agent or designee, upon the resignation, discharge, or retirement of the employee, paid in addition to regular salary and accrued vacation, sick, or other leave, shall immediately be made available without alteration for public inspection. All records of payments shall be available for public inspection notwithstanding that the matter may have been considered or acted upon in nonpublic session pursuant to RSA 91-A:3.
II. After the completion of a meeting of a public body, every citizen, 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, 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.
III. Each public body or agency shall keep and maintain all governmental records in its custody at its regular office or place of business in an accessible place and, if there is no such office or place of business, the governmental records pertaining to such public body or agency shall be kept in an office of the political subdivision in which such public body or agency is located or, in the case of a state agency, in an office designated by the secretary of state.
III-a. Governmental records created or maintained in electronic form shall be kept and maintained for the same retention or archival periods as their paper counterparts. Governmental records in electronic form kept and maintained beyond the applicable retention or archival period shall remain accessible and available in accordance with RSA 91-A:4, III. Methods that may be used to keep and maintain governmental records in electronic form may include, but are not limited to, copying to microfilm or paper or to durable electronic media using standard or common file formats.
III-b. A governmental record in electronic form shall no longer be subject to disclosure pursuant to this section after it has been initially and legally deleted. For purposes of this paragraph, a record in electronic form shall be considered to have been deleted only if it is no longer readily accessible to the public body or agency itself. The mere transfer of an electronic record to a readily accessible ""deleted items'' folder or similar location on a computer shall not constitute deletion of the record.
IV. Each public body or agency shall, upon request for any governmental record reasonably described, make available for inspection and copying any such governmental record within its files when such records are immediately available for such release. If a public body or agency is unable to make a governmental record available for immediate inspection and copying, it shall, within 5 business days of request, make such record available, deny the request in writing with reasons, or furnish written acknowledgment of the receipt of the request and a statement of the time reasonably necessary to determine whether the request shall be granted or denied. If a computer, photocopying machine, or other device maintained for use by a public body or agency is used by the public body or agency to copy the governmental record requested, the person requesting the copy may be charged the actual cost of providing the copy, which cost may be collected by the public body or agency. Nothing in this section shall exempt any person from paying fees otherwise established by law for obtaining copies of governmental records or documents, but if such fee is established for the copy, no additional costs or fees shall be charged.
V. In the same manner as set forth in RSA 91-A:4, IV, any public body or agency which maintains governmental records in electronic format may, in lieu of providing original records, copy governmental records requested to electronic media using standard or common file formats in a manner that does not reveal information which is confidential under this chapter or any other law. If copying to electronic media is not reasonably practicable, or if the person or entity requesting access requests a different method, the public body or agency may provide a printout of governmental records requested, or may use any other means reasonably calculated to comply with the request in light of the purpose of this chapter as expressed in RSA 91-A:1. Access to work papers, personnel data, and other confidential information under RSA 91-A:5, IV shall not be provided.
VI. Every agreement to settle a lawsuit against a governmental unit, threatened lawsuit, or other claim, entered into by any political subdivision or its insurer, shall be kept on file at the municipal clerk's office and made available for public inspection for a period of no less than 10 years from the date of settlement.
VII. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a public body or agency to compile, cross-reference, or assemble information into a form in which it is not already kept or reported by that body or agency.
Source. 1967, 251:1. 1983, 279:2. 1986, 83:5. 1997, 90:2, eff. Aug. 2, 1997. 2001, 223:2, eff. Jan. 1, 2002. 2004, 246:2, eff. Aug. 14, 2004. 2008, 303:4, eff. July 1, 2008. 2009, 299:1, eff. Sept. 29, 2009.
TITLE VI
PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER 91-A
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENTAL RECORDS AND MEETINGS
91-A:9 Destruction of Certain Information Prohibited. – A person is guilty of a misdemeanor who knowingly destroys any information with the purpose to prevent such information from being inspected or disclosed in response to a request under this chapter. If a request for inspection is denied on the grounds that the information is exempt under this chapter, the requested material shall be preserved for 90 days or while any lawsuit pursuant to RSA 91-A:7-8 is pending.
Source. 2002, 175:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2003.
This is only a small portion of information. Many have asked whether it is legal for the Board of Selectman to go into a Non-Public Session EVERY week - because they do it every week. It makes them appear as if they are hiding something. The New Hampshire Local Government Center website can answer a lot of these questions. Along with the State Government website for their list of RSAs.
http://www.nhlgc.org/attachments/services/legal/RTK_FlowChart.pdf
http://doj.nh.gov/publications/documents/right_to_know.pdf
4 comments:
It would seem that the Planning Board is attempting to adopt the same methods as the Selectmen.
Note the agenda for the next meeting, Monday October 18th, where Sharra has posted the board will hold a "non public session under RSA 91-A:3II as necessary"
This is the second time that this Board, under Sharra's direction has pulled this stunt in the past month.
This would be considered illegal.
There are only a couple of valid reasons for a board to enter non-public session; discussing litigation, or pending litigation is usually the main reason a Planning Board would do this. This would seem to be the ONLY reason for her actions.
As there is NO pending litigation regarding the Planning Board or any new lawsuits filed against the board; using RSA 91-A 3:II to hide info from the public is unlawful.
This is just another attempt by Sharra to conceal info from the public.
One can only wonder how someone who has been on this board for so long, claims to be an expert on the law and has attended training classes at the LGC, can claim ignorance when defending her actions.
She may want to reconsider her actions, section 91-A,8 III provides relief for this type of conduct.
It can get very expensive having to defend your actions in a court of law, lawyers don't come cheap.
After reading over the RSA statute I can see where it should be an absolute requirement of all of the boards in town, from the Selectmen to the School board to read this. Several boards don't even provide us with minutes from there meetings as required by law and a search at the town's own website will prove this. This is really an affront to us all and very shameful conduct, not to mention illegal. As we all know, complaints to our select-board are useless, they ignore us when given the task of upholding the law, or when you complain against any town employee or board. I hope everyone reads what you have provided Informer and remembers come election time. Things need to change in this town, no one is above the law; not even those we have elected and put in charge.
Rumblings at the town hall yesterday and this morning have Margaret in a really bad mood. Does anyone know what's going on with her now. Has she done something nefarious again and been called out for it? Informer do you know?
We have no idea what Ms. Sharra's problems are, no information has been provided to us other than hearing that Mr. Towne has filed a complaint of the ZBA's decision to deny his request for a reconsideration with the BOS and that there was some reference in his complaint of wrong doings by Ms. Sharra, which doesn't surprise us one bit. Her past history with and dislike of Mr. Towne is well documented in meeting minutes. She very well must have done or said something to prompt Mr. Towne to include her in his complaint to the board. Nothing this woman does or says surprises us any more, her actions speak volumes of her arrogance and total disregard for regulations or the public she is supposed to serve. There are way too many complaints going back many years attributed to her conduct. What we can't understand is why our town leaders allow things like this to continue year after year, turning a deaf ear to the public's cry for justice time and time again. Surely there has to be a valid reason why people continue to voice complaints and concerns over her conduct.
We'd suggest to people wondering, to attend tonight's BOS meeting and see if Mr. Towne, who plans to attend, is afforded the opportunity to speak before the board and address his concerns.
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