Responding to a request submitted by NHMA, the governor on Wednesday issued Emergency Order #23, which addresses a multitude of municipal concerns and should relieve some of the headaches local officials are suffering in the COVID-19 era. Below is a summary of the order. Municipal officials should not take any actions based solely on this summary. Please read the order itself and contact NHMA or your municipality’s legal counsel if you have questions: 

• Signing documents outside public meetings; electronic signatures. Paragraph 1 allows governing bodies and other public bodies to sign manifests and other documents outside a public meeting if the documents are “necessary for the continued operations of local government.” Local officials are permitted to send and accept electronic signatures consistent with RSA 294-E and the federal Electronic Signatures Act. 

• Periodic meeting requirements. Paragraph 2 relieves local public bodies from all statutory and local requirements that they meet on a particular schedule or with a particular frequency. The order specifically suspends the requirement in RSA 673:10, II, that planning boards meet at least once a month. It would also apply, for example, to a city charter provision requiring the council to meet twice a month. 

• Bond hearings and other hearings related to town meeting. Paragraph 3 provides that towns that have postponed their annual meetings—or do so in the future—are not required to repeat statutorily required hearings already held in advance of the originally scheduled town meeting. This includes, but is not limited to, required bond hearings under RSA 33:8-a. 

• Unanticipated and emergency expenditures. Paragraph 4 authorizes a municipality to make expenditures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in excess of town meeting appropriations under RSA 32:11, I. The municipality still must obtain approval from the Department of Revenue Administration as provided in that section, but the order waives the statute’s requirement of a public hearing in towns without a budget committee. Although the order does not expressly waive the requirement of budget committee approval in towns with a budget committee, we believe it was the intent to waive that requirement. Municipal officials are encouraged to consult with DRA to ascertain exactly what is required. RSA 32:11, II is unaffected; if there is a “sudden or unexpected emergency” that necessitates an over-expenditure under that paragraph, the governing body may proceed and apply to DRA after the fact. 

• Deadlines for land use boards and others. Paragraph 5 relieves municipalities from complying with statutory and local deadlines for taking certain actions on applications and requests. These include, but are not limited to: 

1. all deadlines for planning and zoning boards to accept, hear, and act on land use applications under RSA 676:4 and :7;
2. the requirement under RSA 91-A to make governmental records available immediately for inspection and copying (but officials must still provide an answer about the record’s disclosure within five business days); and
3. deadlines for conducting inspections for permits and building code and fire code compliance. 

• Construction in the absence of building permits and inspections. Paragraph 6 allows contractors to continue with construction projects when a municipality is not issuing building permits or performing inspections, but only by following very strict requirements set out in the order. 

• Marriage license extension. Paragraph 7 extends marriage licenses that would expire during the state of emergency for 60 days beyond the end of the state of emergency. 

• Remote distancing for municipal services. Paragraph 8 allows municipalities to “transition to phone, online, and limited-appointment only services to allow for proper social distancing.” This includes matters such as vital record requests and applications for public assistance. 

• Swearing in newly elected officials. Paragraph 9 suspends the requirement of RSA 42:3 that newly elected municipal officials be sworn in only after the town meeting’s business session has ended. This solves the conundrum faced by towns that had their elections in March but then postponed their business sessions. It also allows the administration of oaths by electronic means, subject to precise requirements stated in the order. 

We are extremely appreciative of the work done by the governor’s office, with assistance from the attorney general’s office and the Department of Revenue Administration, to address the issues raised by NHMA and our members.

Although Emergency Order #23 addressed many of the legal issues arising out of the COVID-19 emergency, we know local officials still have many more questions. Continue to check the COVID-19 Resources page on our website for answers, as we will post more information as it becomes available. (From our home page, www.nhmunicipal.org, go to Resources & Publications, then COVID-19 Resources.) If you don’t find your answers there, please contact our legal services staff.