HB 1696  - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2024 SESSION

24-2529

05/10

 

HOUSE BILL 1696

 

AN ACT relative to electronic record requests under the right-to-know law.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Bickford, Straf. 3

 

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill clarifies a public body or agency's ability to accept record requests by electronic means and to provide such records electronically.

 

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

24-2529

05/10

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four

 

AN ACT relative to electronic record requests under the right-to-know law.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Minutes and Records Available for Public Inspection; Electronic Record Requests.  Amend RSA 91-A:4, I to read as follows:

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. Nothing in this section shall prevent the public body or agency from accepting a governmental record request by electronic means or from providing such records electronically, without requiring the physical appearance of the citizen making the request.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.