In New Hampshire, the law is unambiguous: public funds belong to the taxpayers, and the records generated by those funds belong to the public. Under Part I, Article 8 of the New Hampshire Constitution, public officials are the "substitutes and agents" of the people and are "at all times accountable to them."
Yet, a look at a 2023 Mutual Settlement Agreement executed by the Town of Newmarket reveals a flagrant violation of these foundational principles. The agreement—signed by Town Manager Stephen Fournier on behalf of himself, Town Clerk Terri Littlefield, and Police Chief Greg Jordan—attempts to use taxpayer dollars to systematically strip a citizen of their constitutional and statutory rights.
This contract is not just an abuse of power; it is an illegal attempt to purchase permanent secrecy. Because these officials acted outside their lawful authority to restrict constitutional rights using public money, they must be held personally liable to reimburse the taxpayers of Newmarket.
The settlement, arising from Right-to-Know complaints filed with the NH Ombudsman’s Office (Docket Nos. 2023-002 and 2023-005), details a transaction where the Town of Newmarket agreed to pay a petitioner $2,000 in exchange for a sweeping, lifetime gag order.
The terms of this agreement are a frontal assault on the First Amendment and RSA 91-A:
A citizen’s right to petition the government for public records and to speak freely on social media or in the press about public officials is protected by both the United States and New Hampshire Constitutions. A public board or agency has absolutely no legal authority to write a check using taxpayer funds to extinguish a citizen's civil liberties.
Under New Hampshire law, RSA 91-A is a statutory mandate. Public entities cannot invent private contractual workarounds to evade state-mandated transparency. Entering into a contract that strips a person (and explicitly their relatives) of the right to look at public records is completely unenforceable and void as a matter of public policy.
Barring a citizen from requesting records from other municipalities just because Fournier, Littlefield, or Jordan might work there in the future proves this agreement was never about the town's best interest. It was designed entirely to protect the individual reputations and careers of the named officials, using Newmarket's treasury to fund their personal shields.
Because this contract represents an illegal expenditure of public funds for an unlawful purpose, the town officials who authorized and benefited from it must not be permitted to hide behind the municipal shield. Town Manager Stephen Fournier, Town Clerk Terri Littlefield, and Police Chief Greg Jordan must personally reimburse the taxpayers of Newmarket for the $2,000 paid out under this agreement, along with any public funds spent on legal counsel to draft it.
Here is why personal reimbursement is mandatory:
As the chief executive officer of the town who signed his name to this document, Fournier is responsible for the lawful administration of town funds. Spending public money to secure a personal non-disparagement clause and to block a citizen from auditing his office is a severe breach of fiduciary duty. He used public funds for an unauthorized, unconstitutional purpose.
As the Town Clerk, Littlefield is the statutory keeper of public records. For the literal custodian of public records to be a named beneficiary of a settlement that bans a citizen from ever making a record request again is a complete subversion of her oath of office. Taxpayers should not foot the bill to insulate the record-keeper from records requests.
As the top law enforcement officer in the town, Chief Jordan is sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the State of New Hampshire. Allowing public funds to be used to suppress free speech and stifle statutory transparency directly contradicts a police chief's duty to protect civil rights.
When public officials use the power of the public purse to insulate themselves from public scrutiny, democracy breaks down. The Newmarket settlement agreement is a dark blueprint for municipal tyranny: use taxpayer money to buy out critics, draft unconstitutional bans on free speech, and shut the door on the Right-to-Know law permanently.
This contract is a shameful stain on Newmarket’s governance. The agreement must be publicly condemned, declared completely void, and Fournier, Littlefield, and Jordan must write personal checks to the town treasury to return the money they illegally spent to buy their own silence. Taxpayers must refuse to finance the cover-ups of the very officials who are supposed to serve them.
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