New Hampshire Transparency Study Reveals Inconsistent Public Records Access Across State
A multi-month collaborative investigation by MuckRock, the Granite State News Collaborative, and the Concord Monitor has revealed significant inconsistencies and obstacles in accessing public records under New Hampshire's Right-to-Know law. The study involved submitting 280 public records requests to 46 agencies across 23 communities, including cities, towns, and school districts. Researchers sought documents such as AI policies, police chief performance evaluations, ethics policies, police settlements, and parental curriculum complaints. The findings indicate that while some agencies readily provided records, many presented barriers. Common issues included agencies requiring in-person review or collection of digitally maintained records, citing out-of-state residency as a reason to deny requests from MuckRock, and imposing steep fees for staff time, which is not permitted by law. Some requests were denied outright based on interpretations of exemptions or claims that compiling documents was not required, ...
