The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled on April 15 that the Town of Hanover must pay attorney fees to the Valley News for violating New Hampshire’s right-to-know law by denying the newspaper’s request for the arrest records of two Dartmouth students.
The case has been sent back to the trial court to determine if the fees are reasonable, according to Valley News lawyer Bill Chapman.
In November 2023, the Valley News filed a right-to-know request for public documents in the arrest records of Roan Wade ’25 and Kevin Engel ’27, who were arrested for trespassing during an encampment in front of Parkhurst Hall in October 2023. The right-to-know law, RSA 91-A, “requires public bodies and agencies … make governmental records available upon request” unless restricted by statute or designated as exempt within the law, such as personal identifying information. In early 2024, Hanover filed an action asking a court to determine whether or not the town had to release the records under the law.
Hanover did not release the documents to the Valley News until September 2024, following a Grafton County Superior Court decision in August 2024 that ordered the town to release the public records.
The N.H. Supreme Court decided that Hanover “knew or should have known that its blanket denial violated that law” throughout the process. The documents subject to the law should have been released “at a minimum,” affirming that the documents were not subject to an exception to RSA 91-A because they would not have provided an “insight” into the decision to prosecute.
The town initially argued that it could not release the records “because of the active criminal prosecution of the case,” claiming that the records fell within the Murray Exemptions, which “permits an agency to withhold from disclosure ‘records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes’ under conditions” that could “interfere” with the proceedings or “deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,” according to the court’s opinion, quoting from Murray v. N.H. Div. of State Police, a case from 2006.
In August 2024, the Superior Court maintained that the town should have released the documents, but reversed a June 2024 Superior Court decision that Hanover “should have known” it violated the law, stating that Hanover “made a good faith effort to navigate a complex and unsettled area” of the law and that they would not have to pay Valley News’s attorney’s fees. The Valley News then appealed the case to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
In a statement to The Dartmouth, Valley News publisher Rich Wallace said the state Supreme Court’s most recent ruling “reinforces” that “the public’s right to know matters and must be protected.”
“The court’s decision to award fees makes clear that pursuing transparency shouldn’t come with a financial penalty,” Wallace wrote. “While this case involved our newsroom, the impact is broader — students, journalists and community members all benefit when access to information is upheld. The decision is a meaningful step forward for accountability and open government.”
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Chapman said suing for public records can be “expensive.” The Valley News’s lawsuit began in January 2024 and “finally” received a ruling over two years later.
“The legislature, I think correctly, made it possible for small papers and individuals to go to court in a circumstance where the municipality is improperly withholding the records,” Chapman said.
Town manager Robert Houseman wrote in a statement to The Dartmouth that the town “proactively sought court guidance before releasing records to ensure it acted appropriately under the circumstances.”
“This matter involved a complex and unsettled area of law, including how the right-to-know law applies in the context of an active criminal case and its potential impact on an individual’s right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication,” Houseman wrote.
Houseman added that the town will “review its options and proceed accordingly” now that the case has been sent back to the trial court to determine the size of Valley News’ award.
Chapman said “the case stands for” the town’s duty to release public records and, if necessary, redact personal information.
“The most fundamental point [the decision] makes is that if a municipality has records, some of which are public, some of which may not be public, it has to release the public records,” Chapman explained.
Government professor Sonu Bedi said in an interview with The Dartmouth that, as a result of this decision, public agencies in New Hampshire “will end up disclosing more rather than less” because they will not want to pay legal fees, which will “make access [to information] easier” for both news publications and anyone else who requests it.
“When folks file this right to no claim under the statute, public agencies are going to err on the side of disclosing,” Bedi explained.
Bedi explained that from his view, the town seemed to be acting in “good faith” because they “initially started this process” by filing a declaratory judgement.
“Hanover’s reasoning appears to be that, because the law is unsettled in part, it was entitled to withhold requested records,” Bedi said.
Wade and Engel did not respond to requests for comment.
