CHAPTER 482.

AN ACT PROVIDING, THAT UNDER THE ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS STATUTE,
CERTAIN EXECUTIVE SESSIONS MUST BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

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

482:1 Meetings Open. Amend RSA 91-A:2 (supp) as inserted by
1967, 251:1 by striking out said section and inserting in place thereof the
following: 91-A:2 Meetings Open to the Public. All public proceedings
shall be open to the public, and all persons shall be permitted to attend
any meetings of those bodies or agencies. Minutes of all such meetings,
including names of members, persons appearing before the bodies or
agencies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final
decisions shall be promptly recorded and open to public inspection within
seventy-two hours of the public meeting, except as provided by section 5 of
this chapter, and shall be treated as permanent records of any body or
agency, without exception. Except in an emergency, a notice of the time
and place of each such meeting shall be posted in two appropriate public
places or shall be printed in a newspaper of general circulation in the city
or town at least twenty-four hours, excluding Sunday and legal holidays,
prior to such meetings. An emergency shall mean a situation where im-
mediate undelayed action is deemed to be imperative and the minutes of
the meeting shall clearly spell out the need for the emergency meeting. If
the charter of any city or guide lines set down by the appointing authority
requires a broader public access to official meetings and records than herein
described, such charter provisions or guide lines shall take precedence over
the requirements of this chapter.

482:2 Executive Sessions. Amend RSA 91-A:3, I (supp) as inserted
by 1967, by striking out said paragraph and inserting in place thereof the
following: I. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to pre-
vent these bodies or agencies from holding executive sessions for conduct-
ing deliberations, but, subject to the provisions of paragraph II, all ses-
sions at which information, evidence or testimony in any form is received
shall be open to the public. Decisions made during any executive session
as provided in paragraph II must be made available to the public at the
termination of the session unless divulgence of the information would be
likely to affect adversely the reputation of any person or impair the effec-
tiveness of the action. No ordinances, orders, rules, resolutions, regula-
tions, contracts, appointments or other official actions shall be finally ap-
proved in executive session except as provided in paragraph II. The record
of all actions shall be available for public inspection promptly, except as
provided for in paragraph II.

482:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect sixty days after its
passage.

[Approved July 3, 1969.]
[Effective date September 1, 1969.]