CHAPTER 91-A
ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS AND MEETINGS
Section 91-A:2
91-A:2 Meetings Open to Public. –
I. For the purpose of this section, a ""meeting''
shall mean the convening of a quorum of the membership of a public body, as
provided in RSA 91-A:1-a, to discuss or act upon a matter or matters over which
the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.
""Meeting'' shall not include:
(a) Any chance meeting or a social meeting
neither planned nor intended for the purpose of discussing matters relating to
official business and at which no decisions are made; however, no such chance or
social meeting shall be used to circumvent the spirit of this chapter;
(b) Strategy or negotiations with respect
to collective bargaining;
(c) Consultation with legal counsel; or
(d) A caucus consisting of elected members
of a public body of the same political party who were elected on a partisan
basis at a state general election or elected on a partisan basis by a town or
city which has adopted a partisan ballot system pursuant to RSA 669:12 or RSA
44:2.
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 subject
matter discussed and final decisions, shall be promptly recorded
and open to public inspection within 144 hours of the public meeting,
except as provided in RSA 91-A:6, 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 a nonpublic 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 or the senate, whichever rules are
appropriate, 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
require 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.