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THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
___________________________
Merrimack
No. 98-255
HENRY F. GOODE, JR.
v.
NEW HAMPSHIRE OFFICE OF THE LEGISLATIVE
BUDGET ASSISTANT & a.
December 5, 2000
Getman, Stacey, Tamposi, Schulthess & Steere, P.A., of Bedford (John A. Curran on the brief and orally), for the plaintiff.
Philip T. McLaughlin, attorney general (Daniel J. Mullen, senior assistant attorney general, on the brief and orally), for the defendants.
BROCK, C.J. The petitioner, Henry F. Goode, Jr., appeals an order of the Superior Court (McGuire, J.) partially denying his petition for materials under RSA chapter 91-A, the Right-to-Know Law. See RSA ch. 91-A (1990 & Supp. 1999). The defendants are Michael L. Buckley, the State's acting legislative budget assistant and director of audits; the State's office of the legislative budget assistant; and the State of New Hampshire. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
The trial court found the following facts. In 1993, the office of the legislative budget assistant (LBA) completed an audit of the New Hampshire Property and Casualty Loss Program, which was managed by the plaintiff in his capacity as risk management administrator. The audit generated a seventy-two-page report that was critical of the program's performance and, by implication, that of the plaintiff. The plaintiff alleges that the report prompted his resignation as risk management administrator and permanently damaged his professional reputation.
On April 15, 1997, the plaintiff requested, pursuant to RSA chapter 91-A, disclosure of documentation and materials used to conduct the audit and prepare the report. His request sought "data and documentation related to insurance industry standards, specific insurance policies, model risk management programs, expenditures, premiums, claims, and other materials" to which the report referred. These documents were not attached to the report. The LBA denied the plaintiff's document request orally on May 5, and in writing on July 1.
On June 20, the plaintiff filed a petition for injunctive relief, seeking the previously requested materials and attorney's fees. See RSA 91-A:8 (1990). The trial court granted the petition in part and denied it in part, concluding that the preliminary materials retained in preparation of the report were not subject to the Right-to-Know Law, but that the materials specifically referenced in the report were. The trial court reasoned that RSA 91-A:4, IV "impliedly exempts [the] preliminary materials . . . because it provides that public agencies must make available for inspection and copying `any public record within its files when such files are immediately available for such release.'" The court further reasoned that the preliminary materials "used in preparing final reports are generally not in final form and are not intended to be `available for release.'" The trial court also denied the plaintiff's request for attorney's fees.
In January and February 1998, the plaintiff filed a motion for reconsideration and clarification and two supplements to the motion, in which he noted, among other things, that the parties disagreed "as to the language, intent, and scope of the [trial court's] order." He stated that while he interpreted the order to require disclosure of internal memoranda and audit report drafts, the State disagreed. The trial court denied the motion and concluded that the State was not required to disclose internal memoranda and audit report drafts.
On appeal, the plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in: (1) denying him access to materials prepared for, but not expressly incorporated in, the final audit report; and (2) denying his request for attorney's fees.
"The interpretation of a statute, including the Right-to-Know Law, is to be decided ultimately by this court." N.H. Challenge v. Commissioner, N.H. Dep't of Educ., 142 N.H. 246, 249, 698 A.2d 1252, 1253 (1997) (quotation omitted). "The ordinary rules of statutory construction apply to our review of the Right-to-Know Law, and we accordingly look to the plain meaning of the words used." Union Leader Corp. v. City of Nashua, 141 N.H. 473, 475, 686 A.2d 310, 312 (1996). "We resolve questions regarding the law with a view to providing the utmost information in order to best effectuate the statutory and constitutional objective of facilitating access to all public documents." Union Leader Corp. v. N.H. Housing Fin. Auth., 142 N.H. 540, 546, 705 A.2d 725, 730 (1997) (citation omitted). As a result, "we broadly construe provisions favoring disclosure and interpret the exemptions restrictively." Id.
RSA 91-A:4, IV provides that "[e]ach public body or agency shall, upon request for any public record reasonably described, make available for inspection and copying any such public record within its files when such records are immediately available for such release." RSA 91-A:4, IV (1990). The trial court interpreted this provision as impliedly exempting the preliminary materials and draft audit reports from disclosure because they were "not in final form and [therefore] not intended to be available for release." It then balanced the benefits of disclosure to the public against the benefits of non-disclosure to the government. Cf. N.H. Housing Fin. Auth., 142 N.H. at 553-54, 705 A.2d at 734.
We disagree with the trial court's interpretation of RSA 91-A:4, IV. RSA 91-A:4, IV does not exempt records simply because they are not in their final form. The plain meaning of "immediately available for release" does not imply that records must be in final form to be disclosed. In the context of this section of the statute, a record's immediate availability for release merely requires that the record be made available upon request. See RSA 91-A:4, IV. If a record has been requested, but it is not available for immediate release, the agency has five days to make it available or give some other written response. See id. Thus, in this context, the immediate availability of documents has nothing to do with whether a document must be provided, but when it must be provided. Our conclusion is consistent with RSA 91-A:4, II (1990), which provides for the disclosure of "all notes, materials, tapes or other sources used for compiling the minutes of [agency] meetings." Like the preliminary materials used to prepare the final audit report, notes used to compile meeting minutes are not in their "final form."
We note that the trial court erred in looking to the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.A.