Nashua City Government Violates Right-To-Know Law

NASHUA, NH — Hillsborough Superior Court found the City of Nashua violated New Hampshire's Right to Know Act because it refused, or heavily redacted, documents requested under the act.

In 2018, the plaintiff, Laurie Ortolano, sought numerous documents from Nashua's Assessing Department, which the city refused. The court case found the town of Nashua violated the Right-To-Know law in several ways: not providing the plaintiff with office security footage, denying her request for footage and transcripts, improperly redacting informal hearing sheets and for failure to provide field data cards. The court also found that the city knew, or should have known, it violated Right-To-Know laws. New Hampshire's Right-To-Know laws are a series of statutes guaranteeing the public access to government bodies' public records.

In 2019, Ortolano became concerned with the conduct of two department employees, prompting Nashua Police Department to conduct an investigation. Yet, during the investigation, the plaintiff was warned by Nashua police not to contact department employees.

In a statement, the city said the ruling would "set a dangerous precedent" and "have a negative impact on our police officers' ability to do their jobs.

"No New Hampshire court has ever before required police investigation materials like this to be released in response to a Right-To-Know request," the city said. "The decision could potentially open witnesses and others interviewed to danger or retaliation when investigation details are revealed, and could possibly prevent the Nashua Police Department from obtaining cooperation from sources. Ms. Ortolano is hindering the Nashua Police Department, and is continuing to cost Nashua taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Given the complexity of police investigations and department employees' privacy concerns, it is difficult to know what specific redactions are covered under the Right-To-Know Law. However, the city's repeated refusal to acknowledge Ortolano's requests shows its unwillingness to cooperate with residents' requests for records.