New Hampshire · Right-to-Know Law

The New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law, with its 250-e-mail threshold built in

AccessPoint manages Right-to-Know requests under RSA ch. 91-A — the 5-business-day response, the narrowly-construed RSA 91-A:5 exemptions, and Ombudsman or superior-court enforcement — pre-configured for New Hampshire and running inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

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New Hampshire at a glance

Response standard
Response within 5 business days, or a written statement of the time reasonably needed for a longer request
Enforcement
The Right-to-Know Ombudsman ($25 fee, ruling within 30 days) or a superior-court action, either filed within 30 days of the denial
Exemptions
RSA 91-A:5 exemptions, construed narrowly, including a privacy balancing test for personnel and similar files
Charges
Inspection is free; copies at actual cost; $1 per e-mail beyond the first 250 e-mails produced, with waivers available
Oversight
Right-to-Know Ombudsman (may issue binding orders) or superior court; bad-faith violations carry a $250–$2,000 civil penalty
Languages
English

Built for New Hampshire

One platform for the whole access-and-privacy mandate, pre-configured for this regime and running in your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

Right-to-Know request lifecycle

Intake to release under RSA ch. 91-A — the 5-business-day response, the written statement of time needed, and inspection or copies — all on Microsoft 365.

Exemptions construed narrowly

RSA 91-A:5 exemptions, including the privacy balancing test, applied narrowly as the statute requires. AccessPoint tags each withholding to its specific ground.

The 5-business-day clock

Computed reminders for the 5-business-day response window, with the written statement of additional time needed drafted automatically for longer requests.

Redaction under RSA 91-A:5

Apply the RSA 91-A:5 exemptions, including the privacy balancing test, on a colour-coded, audit-trailed redaction record — line by line.

The 250-e-mail threshold

Track e-mails produced against the 250-e-mail free threshold and apply the $1-per-e-mail charge — with waivers — once it's crossed.

In your own tenant

Every request and record stays inside your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant — no third-party cloud, no cross-border transfers, and no per-user fees.

The 250-e-mail threshold

New Hampshire is one of the only states that prices part of a records request by the e-mail.

Most public-records charges are set per page or per hour of staff time. New Hampshire adds something rarer: a per-e-mail charge for electronic-mail production. Inspection stays free, and copies are charged at actual cost — but once a request's e-mail production passes 250 messages, a public body may charge $1 for each additional e-mail, with fee waivers available. It's a small provision that can swing the cost of a broad e-mail request dramatically, and it's easy to miss until an invoice is already in dispute. AccessPoint counts e-mails as they're produced and computes the charge the moment the threshold is crossed.

First 250 free No charge for the first 250 e-mails produced in response to a request.
$1 per e-mail after Each additional e-mail beyond 250 is billed at $1, tracked automatically as production runs.
Waivers available Fee waivers apply case by case, keeping the charge from becoming a barrier to a legitimate request.

Configured out of the box

Installing the us-nh-rtk jurisdiction pack seeds your tenant with everything this regime needs — a starting point you can adjust, not a lock-in.

Pack content last reviewed: 2026-09-03

Related guide: FOI Workflow Quick Check
  • The New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law (RSA ch. 91-A) as the legal-authority and citation spine
  • The New Hampshire state-holiday calendar and the 5-business-day response due-date rule
  • The RSA 91-A:5 exemptions, including the privacy balancing test, mapped for narrow construction and colour-coded for redaction
  • The written statement-of-time-needed notice for requests that can't be completed within 5 business days
  • New Hampshire charges — free inspection, copies at actual cost, and the $1-per-e-mail charge beyond the first 250 e-mails, with waiver tracking
  • The Right-to-Know Ombudsman complaint workflow — the $25 fee and the 30-day ruling clock
  • The 30-day appeal window to the Right-to-Know Ombudsman or superior court
  • Right-to-Know correspondence templates with statutory wording
A jurisdiction pack's detail panel in AccessPoint settings, showing the pack description, version, what's new, and the checklist of items it imports: legal authorities, calendars, request statuses, request types, extension reasons, requestor categories and consultation types Click to enlarge
What a pack looks like in Settings (the Ontario municipal pack shown): the description, the version and what changed in it, and every item it imports with its statutory basis. Anything you have customized is never overwritten on update.

New Hampshire Questions

When must a New Hampshire public body respond to a Right-to-Know request?
Within 5 business days it must provide the records or a written statement of the time reasonably needed to comply. AccessPoint computes the deadline and drafts the statement when a request can't be completed in time.

What makes New Hampshire different — pricing e-mail production?
Yes. New Hampshire is one of the few states that charges by the e-mail: the first 250 e-mails produced in response to a request are free, and each additional e-mail is billed at $1, subject to waiver. AccessPoint tracks the e-mail count and computes the charge automatically.

How is a denial appealed?
To the Right-to-Know Ombudsman — a $25 complaint fee, a ruling within 30 days, and the power to issue orders — or directly to superior court, either within 30 days of the denial. A public body that violates the law in bad faith faces a $250–$2,000 civil penalty.

Where does data reside?
Entirely within your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant. Requests, documents, and audit history never leave your control — no third-party cloud, no vendor access, and no cross-border data transfers.

Go deeper

AccessPoint for Alabama A brand-new response clock, layered on Alabama's 1981 Stone balancing test AccessPoint for Alaska Silence is a denial, then a two-step appeal — agency head, then superior court AccessPoint for Arizona Open records on a balancing test, no exemption list FOI request management software The full request lifecycle — computed deadlines, records collection, redaction, audit. AccessPoint vs. GovQA Granicus Records Request Management — requests only, vendor cloud. AccessPoint vs. NextRequest CivicPlus's public-records platform — strong portal, vendor cloud only.

Flat annual pricing, published in full. Every feature in every size — access requests, privacy impact assessments, breach response, complaints, video & audio redaction, and AI Assist. No per-user or per-module fees.

  • Under 500 employees$2,990/yr
  • 500–2,000 employees$7,990/yr
  • Over 2,000 employees$14,990/yr

See full pricing Build the business case

Run the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law in One Platform

Try AccessPoint free for 30 days, pre-configured for New Hampshire. No credit card required.

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