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EN
Why it’s getting harder to obtain public information — and what can be done about it
['Contributing Writer', 'Ashley Saari', 'Jesseca Timmons', 'Annmarie Timmins', 'Granite State News Collaborative', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
New Hampshire cities and towns are required by state law to give the public access to public records.
Why can it be so difficult to get public records in New Hampshire and beyond?
The purpose of this (law) is to ensure both the greatest possible public access to the actions, discussions and records of all public bodies, and their accountability to the people.”There are three primary hurdles to getting public records.
UncertaintyIn some cases, public officials fielding a records request may not understand their obligations under the state’s right-to-know law, err on the side of caution, and refuse to release information.
“Everything that happened has been for naught.”Broad requests and high costsSpecific and narrow right-to-know requests can be fulfilled fairly quickly.