ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK ANY ONLINE RULE: FOR ANY SUBSEQUENT AMENDMENTS NOT YET ONLINE, OR FOR POSSIBLE EXPIRATION SINCE THE RULE WENT ONLINE.

An effective rule will not appear on Agency Administrative Rules until the agency certifies the rule after editing. See What is the Official Version of a Rule. Expired rules are deleted or their source notes marked "Expired" once their expiration is known to the Administrative Rules office. If a rule has been amended or superseded by a later filing, the online rule will not be updated until the agency certifies the updated rule.

Pursuant to 1998, 346, for rules filed and effective after August 25, 1998, the rule as adopted and filed before editing is the "official version" of the effective rule until replaced by the certified rule, which then becomes the official version. The agency must certify a rule within 120 days of receiving the first edited text from the Administrative Rules office, except that the time frame does not apply to interim or emergency rules. See RSA 541-A:15, I and RSA 541-A:15, I-a. The online rule text is identical to that of the certified rule, but the online rule is not the official version because its format is different from that of the official version and may have been amended or superseded by a later filing that has not yet been certified and placed online. Rules appear online within a day or two of agency certification.

Follow these steps:

• See the source note for the rule. This note begins with the word "Source" at the end of every rule section (a rule with a decimal point in the number). A 4-digit or 5-digit document number (such as #9860), assigned by the Administrative Rules office to each filing affecting that section, is given in the source note with the effective date of that filing. The source note might be continued with the word "New" if the prior rule with this rule number had expired, was repealed, or had been moved to another section.
• See the last document number in the rule's source note. That is the latest filing that is online.
• Click on the "Source" note link to the agency's filing history. The online agency filing histories list chronologically by document number, with a short description and effective date, all the adopted rules and declaratory rulings filed by the agency with the Administrative Rules office, potentially as far back as 1973. Filing histories are updated on the web site usually within a day after rules are filed.
• Scroll down to see if there is a later document affecting that rule. If there is no later document (and the rule has not expired), then you know that the online rule is updated and effective.

As rules or updated rules are "certified" by an agency, the Administrative Rules office places an asterisk (*) next to the relevant document numbers in the agency filing history for documents that comprise each certified rule. If there is no asterisk (*) next to the last relevant document number in the filing history for the effective rule you want, then that rule, or portion of that rule, covered under that document is not yet certified and therefore not yet online.

If an effective rule is not yet online, then go to the agency, the Administrative Rules office, the State Library, or the N.H. Law Library at the State Supreme Court as appropriate to request a copy of the "as-filed" rule covered by those document numbers. See How To Obtain the Official Version of a Rule.

Version of a Rule

If you want a copy of a rule that is no longer effective and not online, a copy in the original "as-filed" format may be requested from the Administrative Rules office or the State Library by identifying the relevant document numbers. For copies of former certified rules, contact the Administrative Rules office.

CHECKING FOR EXPIRATION

Follow these steps:

• See the source note for the rule.
• See the last document number in the source note.

If the last document number is preceded by "ss by" (superseded by) or stands alone, then the entire section will expire based on the last effective date, unless it is a rule in Chapter 100, or certain rules of practice and procedure in Chapter 200, which might never expire. See When Rules Become Effective and When They Expire.

If the last document number is preceded by "amd by" (amended by), then that last document contained only an amendment and not the entire section. The provisions that were not amended will expire before the amendment, according to the prior superseding ("ss by") document. The amendment will not expire until the expiration date of the last document. See When Rules Become Effective and When They Expire.