Independent New Hampshire Journalism · Northfield, NH91-A Request Builder
Write a Right-to-Know request that cites the statute correctly, and find out exactly when the clock runs out.
New Hampshire gives every citizen the same right to inspect a governmental record. What it does not give anybody is a form. A request that names no statute, sets no deadline, and asks for a category instead of a document is the one that sits in a drawer. This tool writes the other kind.
Fill in the fields, press the button, and you get a letter you can paste into an email or print and mail. It cites the paragraphs that actually govern, asks for an itemized estimate before any charge, and tells the body what the five-business-day rule requires it to do. It also computes the date that rule falls on, skipping weekends and New Hampshire legal holidays.
Build the letter
You
The public body or agency
The records
Your letter
What the statute actually says
Verified against the official text at gc.nh.gov on September 19, 2026. RSA 91-A:4 was last amended by 2026, 206:5, effective August 31, 2026. Check it yourself before you rely on it: RSA 91-A:4.
- 91-A:4, I — Every citizen may inspect all governmental records in a public body’s possession, custody, or control, and copy them, except as prohibited by statute or RSA 91-A:5.
- IV(a) — On request for any record reasonably described, the body makes it available when it is immediately available. If the record is already posted under RSA 33-A:5-a, III, the body may give you the website domain instead.
- IV(b) — If it cannot be produced immediately, then within five business days the body must do one of three things: produce it, deny it, or give a written statement of the time reasonably necessary, the reason for the delay, and an itemized cost estimate if a charge would apply under paragraph VIII. Silence is not on that list.
- IV(c) — A denial, in whole or in part, requires a written statement of the specific exemption relied on and a brief explanation of how it applies to the record withheld.
- IV(d) — You may be charged the actual cost of copying. No fee at all for inspection, or for delivery without copying, in paper, electronic, or any other form, except under paragraph VIII.
- IV(e) — The body may suggest a narrower scope if that would produce the records more efficiently and affordably.
- V — Records kept electronically may be copied to electronic media in standard or common formats. If that is not reasonably practicable, or you ask for a different method, the body may print them or use another reasonable means.
- VII — No public body has to compile, cross-reference, or assemble information into a form it does not already keep. Ask for documents that exist, not for answers.
- VIII — A per-communication charge applies only to requests exceeding 250 electronic communications, capped at $1.00 each, with the first 250 free. Multiple requests from the same person to the same body within 30 days count as one request. If you believe the estimate is unreasonable, relief runs through RSA 91-A:7-b, the burden is on the public body, and a determination comes within 10 business days.
- IX — The paragraph VIII charge is waived for an indigent requestor, or where disclosure is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and is not primarily commercial — except media requestors. This is a fee provision. It has nothing to do with your right of access.
How the deadline is counted
RSA 91-A:4, IV(b) says “5 business days” and never says what a business day is. The chapter’s definitions section, RSA 91-A:1-a, defines six terms — advisory committee, governmental proceedings, governmental records, information, public agency, and public body. Neither “business day” nor “day” is among them.
So this tool takes the conservative reading. It skips Saturdays, Sundays, and the legal holidays listed in RSA 288:1, computed from that section’s own rules: January 1, the third Monday in January, the third Monday in February, the last Monday in May, July 4, the first Monday in September, the second Monday in October, biennial election day in even-numbered years, November 11, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Note what is not on that list. RSA 288:1 does not name Juneteenth, and it calls the February holiday Washington’s Birthday, not Presidents’ Day.
That list is what the statute calls a legal holiday. It is not a statement that any particular town hall was closed. Plenty of New Hampshire offices work straight through Columbus Day. If a body misses the date and blames a holiday, ask which one, and check it against RSA 288:1.
