HOUSE BILL No. 477
INTRODUCED BY: Rep. Arris of Hillsborough Dist. 19
REFERRED TO: Judiciary
AN ACT relative to the right-to-know law.
ANALYSIS
This bill increases, from 72 to 168 hours, the time within which the minutes of a public proceeding shall be available to the public. The bill also provides that certain executive sessions shall not be deemed open to the public based on the number of persons requested to participate in the executive session by the body or agency.
HB 477
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighty-three
AN ACT
relative to the right-to-know law.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Availability of Minutes. Amend RSA 91-A:2, II (supp) as inserted by 1977, 540:3 by striking out in line 9 the number "72" and inserting in place thereof the following (168) so that said paragraph as amended shall read as follows:
II. 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. Any person shall be permitted to use recording devices, including but not limited to tape recorders, cameras and videotape equipment, at such meetings. Minutes of all such meetings, including names of members, persons appearing before the bodies or agencies, and a brief description of the sbuject matter discussed and final decisions shall be promptly recorded
and open to public inspection within 168 hours of the public meeting, except as provided in 91-A:6 of this chapter, and shall be treated as permanent records of any body or agency, or any subordinate body thereof, without exception. Except in an emergency or when there is a meeting of a legislative committee, a notice of the time and place of each such meeting, including an executive session, shall be posted in 2 appropriate places or shall be printed in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town at least 24 hours, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, prior to such meetings. An emergency shall mean a situation where immediate undelayed action is deemed to be imperative by the chairman or presiding officer of the body or agency who shall employ whatever means are available to inform the public that a meeting is to be held. The minutes of the meeting shall clearly spell out the need for the emergency meeting. When a meeting of a legislative committee is held, publication made pursuant to the rules of the house of representatives shall be sufficient notice. If the charter of any city or guidelines or rules of order of any body or agency described in RSA 91-A:1-a requires a broader public access to official meetings and records than herein described, such charter provisions or guidelines or rules of order shall take precedence over the requirements of this chapter.
2 Executive Sessions. Amend RSA 91-A:3, II (supp) as inserted by 1967, 251:1 as amended by striking out said paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following:
II. Exceptions. A body or agency may exclude the public, citing for the record the appropriate subparagreph hereof, when it is considering or acting upon the following matters:
(a) The dismissal, promotion or compensation of any public employee or the disciplining of such employee, or the investigation of any charges against him, unless the employee affected requests an open meeting.
(b) The hiring of any person as a public employee.
(c) Matters which, if discussed in public, likely would affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the body or agency itself, unless such person requests an open meeting.
(d) Consideration of the acquisition, sale or lease of property which, if discussed in public, likely would benefit a party whose interests are adverse to those of the general community.
(e) Matters discussed by a legislative committee sitting in executive session, which should not be made public as determined by a 3/5 roll-call and recorded vote of the members present and voting at such meeting.
An executive session held in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph shall not be deemed open to the public based on the number of persons requested to participate in the executive session by the body or agency.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.