HB 108-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0315
08/06
HOUSE BILL 108-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to minutes and decisions in nonpublic sessions under the right-to-know
law.
SPONSORS: Rep. Ulery, Hills. 37; Rep. Spillane, Rock. 2; Rep. McGuire, Merr. 29; Rep. T.
Lekas, Hills. 37
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ANALYSIS
This bill requires that for meetings in nonpublic session where the minutes or decisions were
determined to not be subject to public disclosure, a list shall be kept which shall include certain
information. The list shall be made available for public disclosure.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
 HB 108-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
21-0315
08/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to minutes and decisions in nonpublic sessions under the right-to-know
law.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Right-to-Know Law; Nonpublic Sessions. Amend RSA 91-A:3, III to read as follows:
2 III. Minutes of meetings in nonpublic session shall be kept and the record of all actions shall
3 be promptly made available for public inspection, except as provided in this section. Minutes of such
4 sessions shall record all actions in such a manner that the vote of each member is ascertained and
5 recorded. Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session shall be publicly disclosed within 72
6 hours of the meeting, unless, by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present taken in public session,
7 it is determined that divulgence of the information likely would affect adversely the reputation of
8 any person other than a member of the public body itself, or render the proposed action ineffective,
9 or pertain to terrorism, more specifically, to matters relating to the preparation for and the carrying
10 out of all emergency functions, developed by local or state safety officials that are directly intended
11 to thwart a deliberate act that is intended to result in widespread or severe damage to property or
12 widespread injury or loss of life. This shall include training to carry out such functions. In the event
13 of such circumstances, information may be withheld until, in the opinion of a majority of members,
14 the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply. For all meetings held in nonpublic session, where
15 the minutes or decisions were determined to not be subject to full public disclosure, a list of
16 such minutes or decisions shall be kept and this list shall be promptly made available for
17 public disclosure. This list shall identify the public body and include the date and time of
18 the meeting in nonpublic session, the specific exemption under paragraph II on its face
19 which is relied upon as foundation for the nonpublic session, the date of the decision to
20 withhold the minutes or decisions from public disclosure, and the date of any subsequent
21 decision, if any, to make the minutes or decisions available for public disclosure.
22 2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.
 LBA
21-0315
12/8/20
HB 108-FN-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to minutes and decisions in nonpublic sessions under the right-to-know
law.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
LOCAL:
Revenue $0 $0 $0 $0
Expenditures $0 Indeterminable Indeterminable Indeterminable
METHODOLOGY:
This legislation requires a public body to keep a list of all minutes of non-public sessions that are
not subject to public disclosure, including the date and time of each non-public session, the
statutory exemption that was the basis for the non-public session, the date of the decision to
withhold the minutes from public disclosure, and the date of any subsequent decision to make
the minutes available. The New Hampshire Municipal Association indicates compiling and
maintaining such a list will require additional staff time for municipalities. This may result in
additional expenditures, but it will depend on the specific circumstances of each municipality.
Therefore, the Association is not able to estimate the amount of additional expenditures. There
will be no effect on municipal revenues.
The Department of Justice expects the bill would likely result in additional requests for legal
advice and training to be provided by existing Department of Justice attorneys in order to make
state boards and agencies aware of the new requirement and how to comply. Those requests
would be handled by the Civil Bureau and could be done within the current budget resulting in
no fiscal impact to the Department.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states there would be no fiscal impact to the
counties.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Justice, New Hampshire Municipal Association and New Hampshire Association
of Counties


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 91-A:3
Ought to Pass: 91-A:3
latest version: 91-A:3, 91-A:5