Towns spotty on release of documents to public Some community offices reluctant to show records

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Police departments in the Seacoast region often failed to turn over police logs when requested, a violation of the state’s Right-to-Know Law, the Portsmouth Herald reported.

The law says anyone can inspect government records. Maine has a similar statute, called the Freedom of Access Act. Although there are some restrictions, most records – including police logs, salaries of public officials, meeting minutes and expense logs – should be public.

The Herald decided to test compliance by sending “auditors” to request public records in southern Maine and coastal New Hampshire where they were unlikely to be recognized as reporters.

In municipal offices, they asked for the town administrator’s or manager’s salary; at school district offices, they asked for the superintendent’s salary. And in police stations, they asked for the police log for the previous day. The audit was conducted from Feb. 6 through March 6. The release of the results this week was intended to coincide with Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort to draw attention to the public’s right to know.

The responses varied widely. In Kittery, Eliot and York, Maine, municipal employees generally understood the law and handed over documents with no questions asked.

Staff at Portsmouth City Hall, Greenland town hall, the Exeter police and the Hampton school department also performed well.

But at other town halls, the auditors were asked whether they were members of the media, or asked to show identification. In North Hampton, the reporter was asked to fill out an “information request form” with his name, address, phone number and tax map lot number, among other items.

As it turned out, there was no contract for the town administrator because the town was in the process of hiring one. But the reporter had to wait two days to get that information.

In Maine, public officials specifically are prohibited from asking a requester to show identification. New Hampshire law is unclear on whether officials can ask for the requester’s name or ID, but prohibits them from asking the requester’s motive for seeking the information.

“A citizen does not have to offer a reason or demonstrate a need to inspect the documents,” according to the New Hampshire attorney general’s memorandum on the Right-to-Know Law. “If a record is public, it must be disclosed regardless of the motive for the request. The issue is always whether the public should have the information, not whether the particular requesting party should have the information.”

But at the Portsmouth School Department, the reporter was asked why she wanted to view the superintendent’s contract. Superintendent Bob Lister said that since the audit, the department has changed its public records policy.

Jeffrey Pyle, a lawyer who represents the New England Press Association, said custodians of public records cross the line when they ask why someone wants information.

“They are the people’s records,” he said.

In Greenland, Police Chief Mike Maloney said a clerk questioned the reporter because “we like to know who we’re giving that information out to, and why they want it.” In North Hampton, Chief Brian Page said police wanted to know whether they should charge for copies of the logs.

In Portsmouth, the officer on duty asked the reporter to show a press badge before viewing the log. At the Newington and Stratham police stations, the logs were released, but only after the auditors were asked if they worked for a newspaper.

But the media do not have any special privileges or rights: Members of the public should get the same treatment as reporters, according to public records experts.

Portsmouth city attorney Robert Sullivan said police were concerned that they could release confidential information, such as the names of juveniles or medical information.

The Police Department prepares a special version of the log each day for the media, with confidential information redacted. Portsmouth police could not say why that log was not shown to the auditor.