SB 95-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0993
06/11
SENATE BILL 95-FN
AN ACT adopting omnibus legislation relative to remote meetings and penalties for
violation of privacy.
SPONSORS: Sen. Daniels, Dist 11
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
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ANALYSIS
This bill adopts legislation relative to:
I. Governing bodies meeting virtually.
II. Remote access to meetings.
III. Penalties for violation of privacy.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
 SB 95-FN - AS INTRODUCED
21-0993
06/11
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT adopting omnibus legislation relative to remote meetings and penalties for
violation of privacy.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Sponsorship. This act consists of the following proposed legislation:
2 Part I. LSR 21-0993, authorizing governing bodies of municipalities to have virtual or in-
3 person meetings, sponsored by Sen. Daniels, Prime/Dist. 11; Rep. Ladd, Graf. 4.
4 Part II. LSR 21-0911, relative to remote access to meetings under RSA 91-A, sponsored by
5 Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Prime/Dist. 21; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist. 13; Sen. Cavanaugh, Dist. 16; Sen.
6 D'Allesandro, Dist. 20; Sen. Prentiss, Dist. 5; Sen. Sherman, Dist. 24; Sen. Whitley, Dist. 15; Rep.
7 Porter, Hills. 1; Rep. Maggiore, Rock. 22; Rep. Espitia, Hills. 31; Rep. Gourgue, Straf. 25; Rep.
8 Wilhelm, Hills. 42.
9 Part III. LSR 21-0167, relative to penalties for violation of privacy, sponsored by Sen. Gray,
10 Prime/Dist. 6.
11 2 Legislation Enacted. The general court hereby enacts the following legislation:
12
13 PART I
14 Authorizing governing bodies of municipalities to have virtual or in-person meetings.
15 1 Governmental Meetings; Open to Public; Virtual Meetings. Amend RSA 91-A:2, III, to read as
16 follows:
17 III. A public body may, but is not required to, allow one or more members of the body to
18 participate in a meeting by electronic or other means of communication for the benefit of the public
19 and the governing body[, subject to the provisions of this paragraph].
20 (a) A member of the public body may participate in a meeting other than by attendance
21 in person at the location of the meeting[ only when such attendance is not reasonably practical. Any
22 reason that such attendance is not reasonably practical shall be stated in the minutes of the
23 meeting].
24 (b) [Except in an emergency, a quorum of the public body shall be physically present at
25 the location specified in the meeting notice as the location of the meeting. For purposes of this
26 subparagraph, an "emergency" means that immediate action is imperative and the physical presence
27 of a quorum is not reasonably practical within the period of time requiring action. The
28 determination that an emergency exists shall be made by the chairman or presiding officer of the
29 public body, and the facts upon which that determination is based shall be included in the minutes of
30 the meeting.
 SB 95-FN - AS INTRODUCED
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1 (c)] Each part of a meeting required to be open to the public shall be audible or otherwise
2 discernable to the public at the location specified in the meeting notice as the location of the meeting.
3 Each member participating electronically or otherwise must be able to simultaneously hear each
4 other and speak to each other during the meeting, and shall be audible or otherwise discernable to
5 the public in attendance at the meeting's location. Any member participating in such fashion shall
6 identify the persons present in the location from which the member is participating. No meeting
7 shall be conducted by electronic mail or any other form of communication that does not permit the
8 public to hear, read, or otherwise discern meeting discussion contemporaneously at the meeting
9 location specified in the meeting notice.
10 (d) Any meeting held pursuant to the terms of this paragraph shall comply with all of
11 the requirements of this chapter relating to public meetings, and shall not circumvent the spirit and
12 purpose of this chapter as expressed in RSA 91-A:1.
13 (e) A member participating in a meeting by the means described in this paragraph is
14 deemed to be present at the meeting for purposes of voting. All votes taken during such a meeting
15 shall be by roll call vote.
16 2 Effective Date. Part I of this act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
17
18 PART II
19 Relative to remote access to meetings under RSA 91-A.
20
21 1 Access to Governmental Records and Meetings; Meetings Open to the Public. Amend RSA 91-
22 A:2, III to read as follows:
23 III. [A public body may, but is not required to, allow one or more members of the body to]
24 One or more members of a public body may participate in a meeting by electronic or other means
25 of communication for the benefit of the public and the governing body, subject to the provisions of
26 this paragraph.
27 [(a) A member of the public body may participate in a meeting other than by attendance
28 in person at the location of the meeting only when such attendance is not reasonably practical. Any
29 reason that such attendance is not reasonably practical shall be stated in the minutes of the
30 meeting.
31 (b) Except in an emergency, a quorum of the public body shall be physically present at
32 the location specified in the meeting notice as the location of the meeting. For purposes of this
33 subparagraph, an "emergency" means that immediate action is imperative and the physical presence
34 of a quorum is not reasonably practical within the period of time requiring action. The
35 determination that an emergency exists shall be made by the chairman or presiding officer of the
36 public body, and the facts upon which that determination is based shall be included in the minutes of
37 the meeting.
 SB 95-FN - AS INTRODUCED
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1 (c) Each part of a meeting required to be open to the public shall be audible or otherwise
2 discernable to the public at the location specified in the meeting notice as the location of the
3 meeting.]
4 (a) A physical location is not required for any meeting, provided the meeting
5 complies with the provisions of this paragraph.
6 (b) Public access shall be provided to the public by telephone, with additional
7 access possibilities by video or other electronic means.
8 (c) Public notice of the meeting, with all information necessary to access the
9 meeting telephonically and by other means, shall be given as provided in this chapter. The
10 notice shall provide a mechanism for the public to alert the public body during the meeting
11 if there are problems with access. The meeting shall be adjourned if the public is unable to
12 access the meeting.
13 (d) Each member participating electronically or otherwise [must] in a meeting
14 required to be open to the public shall be able to simultaneously hear each other and speak to
15 each other during the meeting, and shall be audible or otherwise discernable to the public in
16 attendance at the meeting's location, if the meeting has a physical location. Any member
17 participating in such fashion shall identify the location from which the person is participating
18 and the persons present in the location from which the member is participating. No meeting shall
19 be conducted by electronic mail or any other form of communication that does not permit the public
20 to hear, read, or otherwise discern meeting discussion contemporaneously at the meeting location
21 specified in the meeting notice.
22 [(d)] (e) Any meeting held pursuant to the terms of this paragraph shall comply with all
23 of the requirements of this chapter relating to public meetings, and shall not circumvent the spirit
24 and purpose of this chapter as expressed in RSA 91-A:1.
25 [(e)] (f) A member participating in a meeting by the means described in this paragraph
26 is deemed to be present at the meeting for purposes of voting. All votes taken during such a meeting
27 shall be by roll call vote.
28 2 Effective Date. Part II of this act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
29
30 PART III
31 Relative to penalties for violation of privacy.
32 1 New Paragraph; Breaches of the Peace; Violation of Privacy. Amend RSA 644:9 by inserting
33 after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:
34 IV-a. Any person convicted of a class A misdemeanor under paragraphs I-IV who commits a
35 second or subsequent offense under paragraphs I-IV may be charged with a class B felony for the
36 second or subsequent offense.
37 2 Effective Date. Part III of this act shall take effect January 1, 2022.
 LBA
21-0993
1/21/21
SB 95-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT adopting omnibus legislation relative to remote meetings and penalties for
violation of privacy.
PART I: Authorizing governing bodies of municipalities to have virtual or in-person
meetings.
No fiscal impact.
PART II: Relative to remote access to meetings under RSA 91-A.
No fiscal Impact.
PART III: Relative to penalties for violation of privacy.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE: FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024
Appropriation $0 $0 $0 $0
Revenue $0 $0 $0 $0
Indeterminable Indeterminable Indeterminable
Expenditures $0
Increase Increase Increase
Funding Source: [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other
COUNTY:
Revenue $0 $0 $0 $0
Indeterminable Indeterminable Indeterminable
Expenditures $0
Increase Increase Increase
METHODOLOGY:
This section of the bill allows a second or subsequent offense for certain invasion of privacy
offenses to be charged as a class B felony. This bill contains a penalty that may have an impact
on the New Hampshire judicial and correctional systems. There is no method to determine how
many charges would be brought as a result of the changes contained in this bill to determine the
fiscal impact on expenditures. However, the entities impacted have provided the potential costs
associated with these penalties below.
 Judicial Branch FY 2021 FY 2022
Class A Misdemeanor $78 $78
Simple Criminal Case $309 $309
Routine Criminal Felony Case $494 $494
Appeals Varies Varies
It should be noted that average case cost estimates for FY 2021 and FY 2022 are based on data that is
more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the
impact these changes may have on processing the various case types.
Judicial Council
Public Defender Program Has contract with State to Has contract with State to
provide services. provide services.
Contract Attorney – Felony $825/Case $825/Case
Contract Attorney – $300/Case $300/Case
Misdemeanor
Assigned Counsel – Felony $60/Hour up to $4,100 $60/Hour up to $4,100
Assigned Counsel – $60/Hour up to $1,400 $60/Hour up to $1,400
Misdemeanor
It should be noted that a person needs to be found indigent and have the potential of being incarcerated to
be eligible for indigent defense services. The majority of indigent cases (approximately 85%) are handled
by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned
counsel (1%).
Department of Corrections
FY 2020 Average Cost of $47,691 $47,691
Incarcerating an Individual
FY 2020 Annual Marginal
Cost of a General Population $6,407 $6,407
Inmate
FY 2020 Average Cost of
Supervising an Individual on $584 $584
Parole/Probation
NH Association of Counties
County Prosecution Costs Indeterminable Indeterminable
Estimated Average Daily Cost $105 to $120 $105 to $120
of Incarcerating an Individual
Many offenses are prosecuted by local and county prosecutors. When the Department of Justice
has investigative and prosecutorial responsibility or is involved in an appeal, the Department
would likely absorb the cost within its existing budget. If the Department needs to prosecute
significantly more cases or handle more appeals, then costs may increase by an indeterminable
amount.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Judicial Branch, Departments of Corrections and Justice, Judicial Council, and New Hampshire
Association of Counties


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 91-A:2, 644:9