WMUR Channel Nine v. New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Hampshire held that the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game violated RSA 91-A:2, II by excluding television cameras from a public hunting-license appeal hearing. The court rejected the department’s arguments that due process concerns or administrative rules authorized the exclusion. It affirmed the denial of attorney’s fees because the hearing officer neither knew nor should have known that the conduct violated the Right-to-Know Law.

Holdings

1. Because the hearing was a public proceeding subject to RSA 91-A:2, II, the statute gave any person, including the media, the right to use video recording equipment, and the Department violated the statute by excluding WMUR's cameras.
2. An administrative rule authorizing a hearing officer to regulate the course of a hearing and take actions consistent with applicable law did not authorize exclusion of cameras because that interpretation conflicted with RSA 91-A:2, II.
3. WMUR was not entitled to attorney's fees because, although its lawsuit was necessary to make the proceeding open to the public, the record supported the finding that the presiding officer neither knew nor should have known that excluding the cameras violated RSA chapter 91-A.

Questions Presented

1. Whether excluding WMUR's cameras from Hardwick's administrative hearing violated RSA 91-A:2, II.
2. Whether the Department or its presiding officer had authority under administrative rules to exclude cameras despite RSA 91-A:2, II.
3. Whether WMUR was entitled to attorney's fees under RSA 91-A:8 when the lawsuit was necessary to open the proceeding but the presiding officer neither knew nor should have known that excluding cameras violated the statute.

Disposition

affirmed