The New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated, known as the RSA, is the codified body of state law passed by the General Court and signed by the governor. It spans 64 titles covering criminal offenses, business regulations, public health, licensing, landlord-tenant rules, and much more.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. How Laws Are Made You can read the full text online, for free, on the General Court website, and once you know how the numbering works, finding a specific rule takes only a few clicks.
How the RSA Is Organized
The structure goes from broad to specific in three layers. Titles come first and cover large subject areas. Title X is Public Health. Title LXII is the entire Criminal Code.2Justia. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Title LXII – Criminal Code Each title splits into chapters on narrower topics. Within the Criminal Code you’ll find separate chapters for theft, assault, fraud, sexual offenses, and dozens more.
Chapters then break into numbered sections that state the actual rules. A theft chapter has one section defining the offense, another setting the penalties, and others handling variations like shoplifting or receiving stolen property. This layering lets you move from a general subject down to the exact provision without wading through unrelated law.
Above the entire RSA sits the New Hampshire Constitution. No statute can contradict it, and any provision a court finds in conflict with the state constitution is unenforceable. Federal law can also override state statutes in areas where Congress has authority, though courts start with a presumption that state laws are valid and require clear evidence of conflict.
How to Read an RSA Citation
An RSA citation follows a set pattern: the letters “RSA,” a chapter number, a colon, and a section number. In RSA 625:1, “625” is the chapter and “1” is the section within it.3New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Citation Guidelines for New Hampshire References
Longer citations add detail. Roman numerals after the section number mark a paragraph within that section, and lowercase letters in parentheses mark subparagraphs. RSA 287:4, I means chapter 287, section 4, paragraph I. Some chapters carry both a number and a letter joined by a hyphen, like RSA 541-A, the Administrative Procedure Act.3New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Citation Guidelines for New Hampshire References Once you recognize the pattern, even a citation like RSA 382-A:4-103 is readable: chapter 382-A, section 4-103.
Looking Up a Statute Online
The primary free source is Revised Statutes Online, hosted by the New Hampshire General Court. The database holds every general and permanent statute currently in force, updated through December 2025 as of the latest revision.4New Hampshire General Court. Revised Statutes Online Two ways to search: a keyword search that scans the full text of all statutes, and a browse function that lets you click down through the title-and-chapter hierarchy like a table of contents. A Bill Status Database link on the same page lets you check whether pending legislation might affect the statute you’re reading.
One limit worth knowing. The free online version is not a digitized copy of the printed RSA. It gives you the statutory text and source notes, meaning the citations to the chapter laws that created or amended each section, but it does not include amendment notes explaining what each legislative change actually did.5New Hampshire Law Library. Compiling a New Hampshire Legislative History: New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated – Section: Where to Find the RSAs For most everyday questions, the online text is enough. For legislative history, or to understand how a statute evolved, you need more.
Third-party databases like Justia also republish New Hampshire statutes and can be handy for quick lookups. The General Court site is the state-sanctioned source, though, and when accuracy matters you should verify against it.
When You Need the Annotated Version
The full annotated print edition, published commercially, includes research aids the free online version lacks: amendment notes describing each legislative change, source notes tracing the law back to its original enactment, and in some editions references to court decisions interpreting each provision.5New Hampshire Law Library. Compiling a New Hampshire Legislative History: New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated – Section: Where to Find the RSAs Those annotations are what make the “Annotated” in the title meaningful. For litigation, legislative history work, or reading how courts have applied a statute, the annotated version is far more useful.
The New Hampshire Law Library keeps a complete set of the print RSA and is open to the public. Many local public libraries carry the volumes or can pull them through interlibrary loan. Paid subscription databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis offer searchable digital versions with the full annotations.
Session Laws vs. the Codified RSA
When the General Court passes a bill and the governor signs it, the new law first appears as a chapter law. At the end of each session, all chapter laws from that session are compiled in a volume titled Laws of the State of New Hampshire. These are session laws, arranged in the order enacted rather than by subject.6New Hampshire Law Library. Compiling a New Hampshire Legislative History: Laws of the State of New Hampshire (Chapter/Session Laws)
The RSA takes those new laws and weaves them into the existing subject-matter framework. General and permanent statutes get codified into the right title and chapter. Private laws (those applying only to specific individuals or entities) and temporary laws (those with built-in expiration dates) do not make it into the RSA. They stay in the session law volumes only.6New Hampshire Law Library. Compiling a New Hampshire Legislative History: Laws of the State of New Hampshire (Chapter/Session Laws) The Office of Legislative Services handles this codification after each session.
This distinction matters in practice. A chapter law sometimes contains a preamble, a statement of purpose, or a “findings and declaration” section that never appears in the RSA. If you’re researching why the legislature passed a statute or what problem it was meant to address, you may need to go back to the original session law. Chaptered final versions of bills from 1989 forward are on the General Court website, and older volumes have been digitized.
Administrative Rules Fill in the Details
Statutes are not the only binding law in New Hampshire. State agencies also adopt administrative rules under authority the legislature grants them. These rules fill in operational details statutes leave open. A statute might require restaurants to meet food safety standards, while the Department of Health and Human Services adopts the rules spelling out temperature requirements, inspection schedules, and violation penalties.
All proposed and adopted administrative rules must be filed with the Office of Legislative Services under RSA 541-A, the Administrative Procedure Act, before they take effect and carry the force of law.7General Court of NH. Administrative Rules The New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules is searchable through the General Court website, organized by agency. If you’re trying to comply with a state requirement, check the relevant administrative rules alongside the statute. The statute tells you what the legislature requires; the agency rules tell you how to comply.
Local Ordinances and the Limits of Municipal Power
New Hampshire follows Dillon’s Rule, meaning cities and towns can only exercise powers the state legislature has specifically granted them. A municipality cannot pass an ordinance that conflicts with a state statute, and if there is reasonable doubt about whether a power has been given to local government, the answer is that it has not. The RSA is the ceiling for most local regulatory authority, not the floor.
RSA chapter 49-B does provide a home rule charter process that gives municipalities some flexibility. A town or city that adopts a home rule charter can exercise powers relating to municipal affairs as long as those powers are “not inconsistent with the constitution or the general laws of the state.”8New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Chapter 49-B – Home Rule-Municipal Charters Local ordinances can supplement state law on things like zoning, noise, and building codes, but they cannot contradict it. When a rule seems to involve both state and local authority, check the RSA first, then your municipality’s ordinances.
Check for Pending Changes Before You Rely on a Statute
The General Court meets annually, so the RSA is a living document. New laws are added each year by number and title after the Office of Legislative Services codifies them.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. How Laws Are Made Between those updates, the statute text on the General Court site may not yet reflect the most recent session’s changes. The Bill Status Database, linked from the RSA homepage, lets you search pending bills and see which committees are reviewing them.4New Hampshire General Court. Revised Statutes Online Effective dates depend on what each bill specifies: some take effect immediately upon passage, others on a fixed future date.9NH.gov. How a Bill Becomes a Law If you’re relying on a statute for a business decision or legal matter, confirming that no pending bill would change it is worth the extra step.