Nonpublic Sessions and the Right-to-Know Law

Broadcast Date: 
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Duration: 
80

As a basic rule, under RSA Chapter 91-A, New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know Law, all meetings of public bodies must have proper notice and be open to the public. However, a nonpublic session is a portion of a public meeting from which the public may be excluded. A nonpublic session may be held only during the course of a proper public meeting. Once the public meeting has been convened, the body may enter nonpublic session for a proper purpose, as long as proper procedures are followed.

Spend an hour with NHMA Staff Attorney Margaret Byrnes and Portsmouth City Councilor Chris Dwyer who will discuss issues related to nonpublic meetings under the Right-to-Know Law. Learn how a nonpublic session is different from a non-meeting, and how a nonpublic session is the exception, not the rule. The webinar will also review the list of purposes for which a nonpublic session is permitted, but not required, and deal with the thorniest problem involved in nonpublic sessions – whether to keep minutes sealed and how to seal them.

This webinar is open to members of New Hampshire Municipal Association and may be of interest to planning boards, zoning boards, select board members, budget committee members, town administrators and managers, and legal counsel. 

Presentation Materials: