Skip to main content

What counts as a meeting in New Hampshire: quorum, social contact and email

Short answer

In New Hampshire, a meeting is a quorum of a public body convening, in person, by phone or electronically, so all can communicate at the same time, to discuss or act on its business. A chance or social encounter not arranged for that purpose does not count, if no decisions are made. Counsel consultations and partisan caucuses are left out. Live email or chat among a quorum may count; use email only to set a date, time or place.(RSA 91-A:2, I)

This guide explains the law in plain words; it is not legal advice. For a question about your board, ask your town counsel.
By Clarivis · Checked against RSA 91-A:2, I and II, RSA 91-A:1-a, VI, and RSA 673:10, III on Mon, Oct 26, 2026.

Where this fits in your meeting cycle: Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps: it counts the deadline for each meeting's notice, shows the minutes deadline for each meeting and drafts the minutes for your board to correct and approve; it does not post the notice or send it to a newspaper for you.

See how Clarivis helps
Questions on this page

What is a meeting under the Right-to-Know Law?

A meeting is a quorum of a public body convening to discuss or act on something within its responsibility, whether in person, by phone or electronically, so long as everyone taking part can communicate with each other at the same time.

Statute text

“a "meeting" means the convening of a quorum of the membership of a public body, as defined in RSA 91-A:1-a, VI, or the majority of the members of such public body if the rules of that body define "quorum" as more than a majority of its members, whether in person, by means of telephone or electronic communication, or in any other manner such that all participating members are able to communicate with each other contemporaneously”

RSA 91-A:2, I

The purpose clause matters too. The convening must be "for the purpose of discussing or acting upon a matter or matters over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power." Talking about the board's business is enough; a vote is not needed. A body that only advises can hold a meeting.

Subject to the nonpublic session rules, every meeting is open to the public, whatever the means:

Statute text

“Subject to the provisions of RSA 91-A:3, all meetings, whether held in person, by means of telephone or electronic communication, or in any other manner, shall be open to the public.”

RSA ch. 91-A

For what a meeting needs once it is a meeting, see the notice guide and the minutes guide. To close part of it, see the nonpublic session guide.

What is a quorum?

The Right-to-Know Law does not give a number. A meeting is the convening of a quorum, or of a majority of the members if the body's own rules set the quorum higher than a majority (RSA 91-A:2, I). So if a board's rules set its quorum higher than a majority, a majority of its members convening to discuss its business is a meeting under this law, even though it is short of the board's own quorum.

For a local land use board, other law sets the number:

Statute text

“A majority of the membership of a local land use board shall constitute the quorum necessary in order to transact business at any meeting of a local land use board.”

RSA 673:10, III

For any other board, look to the town charter, an ordinance or the board's own rules, or ask town counsel.

Does a chance or social encounter count?

Not if no decisions are made. The definition says so directly:

Statute text

“A chance, social, or other encounter not convened for the purpose of discussing or acting upon such matters shall not constitute a meeting if no decisions are made regarding such matters.”

RSA 91-A:2, I

Two conditions do the work: the encounter was not convened to discuss or act on board business, and no decisions were made. If a quorum of members arranges to get together to talk over an item, the first condition fails.

The safe course: at a conference, a ribbon cutting or another board's meeting, members do not discuss among themselves an item their own board will decide.

What does the law leave out of the word meeting?

The statute names four things that are not a meeting:

Statute text

“(a) Strategy or negotiations with respect to collective bargaining;”

“(b) Consultation with legal counsel;”

“(c) A caucus consisting of elected members of a public body of the same political party who were elected on a partisan basis at a state general election or elected on a partisan basis by a town or city which has adopted a partisan ballot system pursuant to RSA 669:12 or RSA 44:2; or”

“(d) Circulation of draft documents which, when finalized, are intended only to formalize decisions previously made in a meeting”

RSA 91-A:2, I

On circulating drafts, the statute adds that "nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to alter or affect the application of any other section of RSA 91-A to such documents or related communications." Apart from these four, and a chance or social encounter not arranged to discuss board business where no decisions are made, nothing is excluded by this definition. Closing part of a meeting to talk with counsel is a different question, covered by the nonpublic session rules.

Can members discuss board business by email, text or phone?

The definition reaches a quorum communicating "by means of telephone or electronic communication, or in any other manner" so that "all participating members are able to communicate with each other contemporaneously" (RSA 91-A:2, I). A phone or video call among a quorum about board business fits those words. A live text or chat among a quorum may too (see the list below). Remote members can take part in a meeting only on the terms in the remote participation guide.

The same section limits how a meeting may be held electronically:

Statute text

“No meeting shall be conducted by electronic mail or any other form of communication that does not permit the public to hear, read, or otherwise discern meeting discussion contemporaneously at the meeting location specified in the meeting notice.”

RSA 91-A:2, III

What the statute does not settle is a slower exchange: a chain of emails over a day, each member replying when they can. It does not say whether that is communicating "contemporaneously" (see the list below). In practice, the safe course:

  • Use email to settle a date, time or place, and nothing more.
  • Send information to the chair, secretary or clerk, who includes it in the meeting packet, rather than to the whole board.
  • Do not "reply all" with views on an item the board will decide. Save it for the meeting, where the public can hear it.
  • If someone starts a discussion by email, do not answer on the thread. Say it belongs at the next meeting.

Does a subcommittee or advisory committee have its own meetings?

Yes. The definition of a public body for a town or city includes the board itself and "any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto":

Statute text

“Any legislative body, governing body, board, commission, committee, agency, or authority of any county, town, municipal corporation, school district, school administrative unit, chartered public school, or other political subdivision, or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto.”

RSA 91-A:1-a

A quorum of the subcommittee convening to discuss its work is a meeting of that subcommittee, with its own notice and minutes. In our reading, the subcommittee's quorum is counted from its own membership, not the parent board's.

Checklist

Some items are the safe course, not the statute's words.

Between meetings

  • Email and phone among members only to schedule a meeting.
  • Information for the board goes to the chair, secretary or clerk for the packet, not to everyone.
  • No "reply all" with views on business the board will decide.
  • No live call, chat or text among a quorum about an item the board will decide.

Before the meeting

  • Any gathering of a quorum to discuss board business is noticed like any other meeting.
  • Minutes will be kept.

At another group's event

  • Members do not discuss their own board's business together.

What the law does not settle

These are questions to take to your town counsel; this guide does not answer them.

  • Whether a sequence of emails, each answered when the member can, is members communicating "contemporaneously".
  • Whether a one-way email from the chair or clerk to every member, with no replies, is a discussion at all.
  • Whether a vacant seat counts toward the membership when the quorum is worked out.
  • Which quorum number applies when a charter, an ordinance and the board's own rules disagree.
  • Whether a given working group is a public body, and what applies when it is made up of a quorum of the parent board.
  • When a social gathering stops being a "chance, social, or other encounter" and becomes a meeting.

How Clarivis helps

Clarivis does not see email or calls between members and does not decide whether a gathering was a meeting. At the meeting itself, it helps the record show who was there.

  • Your quorum, set in Settings. A new committee's quorum reads Not evaluated until a person enters the number; a Committee Admin or the Clerk sets it in Settings, then Committee. Clarivis never works it out from the law.
  • Attendance against that number. The meeting's Overview shows how many voting members were present against that number.
  • No guessing when attendance is incomplete. Quorum reads Not evaluated while the attendance recorded so far cannot settle it.
  • A plain record when quorum was short. If fewer were present than the quorum and a motion or vote was still recorded, the meeting's Compliance step shows the two numbers.
Request a pilotSee a demo first

This guide for other states

Sources