Formal Opinions

Opinion Ltr. No. F26-02 January 29, 2026 Communications About Board Business Outside of a Meeting While a meeting of the Hawaiian Homes Commission (Commission) was in recess on January 16, 2024, the Chair and two members of the Commission continued...

Opinion Ltr. No. F26-01 December 19, 2025 Permitted Interactions at a Meeting Lacking Quorum A member of the public asked whether the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB) violated the Sunshine Law by discussing board business when its scheduled meeting...

Opinion Ltr. 25-07 June 30, 2025 Sufficiency of Minutes A member of the public asked whether the Maui County Planning Commission’s (Commission) written summary accompanying its recorded minutes violated the Sunshine Law by failing to record all votes made by...

Opinion Ltr. No. F25-06 March 27, 2025 Adequacy of Search for Personal Records Requester asked whether the County of Hawaii Department of Parks and Recreation (Parks) fully responded to Requester’s request for emails and a list of name-calling that Parks...

Opinion Ltr. No. F25-05 March 25, 2025 Record Requests Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and Title 8, Chapter 60, HAR, Provision of Free Appropriate Public Education for a Student with a Disability Requester, who is a parent (Parent)...

Opinion Ltr. No. F25-04 March 21, 2025 Written Testimony Submitted for Canceled Meeting Requester asked whether the Maui County Planning Commission (Commission) violated the Sunshine Law by failing to consider testimony submitted for a canceled meeting when the same agenda...

Opinion F25-03 February 28, 2025 Reasonable Search for Records; Employee Medical Records A record requester (Requester) sought copies of an officer’s disciplinary and medical records from the Honolulu Police Department (HPD).  HPD denied the record request, asserting that it had...

Opinion Ltr. No. F25-02 February 27, 2025 Meeting Notice by Electronic Mail Requester sought a decision as to whether the Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board No. 13 (NB 13) violated the Sunshine Law by holding a meeting despite being informed that not...

Opinion Ltr. 25-01 December 19, 2024 Executive Sessions; Adequacy of Agendas; Discussion of Topics Not on Agendas The Public First Law Center questioned whether the Honolulu Police Commission (Commission) was violating the Sunshine Law in its meetings, by failing to include...

Opinion Ltr. No. F24-07 June 21, 2024 Interview Materials and Information Requester sought copies of records about his job interview from the Department of Budget and Finance (B&F).  B&F granted in part and denied in part his request, and Requester...