Plaistow staff say right‑to‑know requests are time‑consuming; town paid for AI review on a large request

Town staff told the Plaistow Board of Selectmen on Jan. 13 that right‑to‑know (RTK) requests are consuming significant staff time and, in at least one case, incurred outside costs to process voluminous records.

Beth (staff member) presented a monthly RTK summary and said the town received nine requests in December. Greg (Town Manager) told the board some earlier requests required extensive redaction and review; for one request that sought emails spanning several months, staff and the town attorney used an AI‑assisted tool to help sort and de‑duplicate thousands of messages. Greg said the town incurred attorney and tool expenses to complete the request and that, to his knowledge, the requester had not collected the produced records.

"We ended up expending money through the attorney for an AI type program to help facilitate that," Greg said, referring to the large RTK request. Board members noted that while nine requests in December may not sound like many, the time and staff hours required vary widely depending on the scope and format of the request.

Board members asked how often staff consult the town attorney on RTK responses. Greg said it depends on the complexity of the request — routine requests handled internally can be processed with staff experience, whereas personnel‑related or sensitive records require attorney involvement and possible redactions.

The board received the report and thanked staff for compiling the RTK summary. There was no vote attached to this agenda item; selectmen directed staff to continue reporting RTK activity so the board understands the workload implications for budget and staffing decisions.