HB 1125 - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2594
11/05
HOUSE BILL 1125
AN ACT relative to requiring public notice and comment at all county commissioner and delegation meetings.
SPONSORS: Rep. Burroughs, Carr. 2; Rep. Maggiore, Rock. 23; Rep. Stavis, Graf. 13; Rep. Thackston, Ches. 12; Rep. Hunt, Ches. 14
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires public notice and comment at all county commissioner and delegation meetings.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2594
11/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to requiring public notice and comment at all county commissioner and delegation meetings.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; County Commissioner and Delegation Meetings; Public Notice and Comment. Amend RSA 91:A by inserting after section 2-b the following new section:
91-A:2-c County Commissioner and Delegation Meetings; Public Notice and Comment.
I. In addition to all requirements set forth in RSA 91-A:2, county commissions and delegations shall allow public comment. Public comment is either:
(a) Written comment addressed to the commission or delegation and delivered prior to a meeting;
(b) Spoken comment delivered at the meeting.
II. Any person shall be permitted, within the parameters of this section, to participate in public comment without penalty, retribution or disrespect by any commission or delegation member. Every person wishing to provide spoken comment at a meeting shall be granted at least 3 minutes to speak. The allotted time for comment shall be the same for every person. No person shall ask questions of any commission or delegation member. The commission or delegation shall allow both in-person and remote spoken public comment.
III. Notice for all non-emergency county commission and delegation meetings shall be posted as required in RSA 91-A:2, with the additional requirement that the notice shall expressly provide the address at which written comment shall be delivered.
IV. At any non-emergency meeting, the commission or delegation shall provide sign-in cards at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting's commencement. Any person physically present at the meeting who wishes to speak shall print their name on the card and submit the card to a person designated by the commission or delegation. A person shall be required to give their name as printed on their driver's license or non-driver ID or other form of identification, but they shall not be required to provide any further personal information. The chairperson of the commission or delegation shall call out the name of each person for comment in the order the cards were received. A person may submit a sign-in card at any point during the comment portion of the meeting, but may not speak without submitting a card. The commission or delegation shall determine the procedure for accepting remote public comment, and shall post the procedure on or along with any notice under this section.
V. A commission or delegation shall allow every person who submits a sign-in card or follows the remote comment procedure to speak. A commission or delegation meeting that will go or has gone past the scheduled end time because of public comment may, at the discretion of the chairperson of the commission or delegation, either continue until public comment is over or be rescheduled to another date and time. If the chairperson continues the hearing, the commission or delegation shall post new notice at least 2 days prior to the new date.
VI. A public comment portion of any meeting shall be postponed in the event of either of the following:
(a) Inclement weather that reasonably interferes with the public's ability to participate.
(b) Inability for the entire public to observe and hear the meeting by means of telephone or electronic communication .
VII. A non-emergency meeting may be moved to a different location than stated in the original notice if the commission or delegation determines that the original location will likely be unable to accommodate the public. Notice of such change shall be made as soon as practicable and shall be posted at the entrances to the original facility and on the body's website.
2 Meetings Open to Public; Required Notice of County Commission and Delegation Meetings. Amend RSA 91-A:2, II to read as follows:
II. Subject to the provisions of RSA 91-A:3, all meetings, whether held in person, by means of telephone or electronic communication, or in any other manner, shall be open to the public. 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 nonpublic sessions, shall include the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions. The names of the members who made or seconded each motion shall be recorded in the minutes. Subject to the provisions of RSA 91-A:3, minutes shall be promptly recorded and open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting, except as provided in RSA 91-A:6, and shall be treated as permanent records of any public body, 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 one of which may be the public body's Internet website, if such exists, 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. In the case of a county commission or delegation meeting, notice shall be posted 5 days in advance of a non-emergency meeting. An emergency shall mean a situation where immediate undelayed action is deemed to be imperative by the chairman or presiding officer of the public body, who shall post a notice of the time and place of such meeting as soon as practicable, and shall employ whatever further means are reasonably 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 town or guidelines or rules of order of any public body 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, except that RSA 91-A:2-c shall continue to apply to county commission and delegation meetings. For the purposes of this paragraph, a business day means the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday, excluding national and state holidays.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.