Formal Opinions

Opinion Ltr. No. F23-01 December 12, 2022 Permitted Interactions; Interactive Conference Technology; Board Packets; and Related Sunshine Law Questions The appellant was a member of the State Council on Mental Health (SCMH) at the time she filed two appeals alleging...

Opinion Ltr. No. F22-03 June 30, 2022 Employee Departure Records The Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) denied a request for records relating to its former chief investment officer’s departure.  Due in part to the emergency suspension of UIPA deadlines during the...

Opinion Ltr. No. F22-02 April 21, 2022 Date Stamped Copy of Complaint The Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) receives complaints against Hawaii justices and judges and recommends dispositions to the Hawaii Supreme Court (HSC) concerning allegations of judicial misconduct or...

Opinion Ltr. No. F22-01 December 22, 2021 Police Report, Administrative Complaint, and Body Worn Camera Recordings A personal record requester (Requester) made a request to­­ the Kauai Police Department (POLICE-K) for a copy of a police report, the file for...

Opinion Ltr. No. F21-02 June 24, 2021 ERS Investment Report Including Total Distribution Data for Private Equity Funds The Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) posted on its website a public version of a consultant-prepared report on ERS’s then-current investments, which left...

Opinion Ltr. No. F21-01 August 26, 2020 Closing Agreements Requester made a request for the closing agreements between the Department of Taxation (TAX) and the taxpayers in two litigations filed in the Hawaii Tax Appeal Court.  TAX denied the request...

Opinion Ltr. No. F20-05 June 29, 2020 Board Members’ Email Communication Requester asked OIP whether the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board No. 34 (Board) violated the Sunshine Law when Board members exchanged email communication about Board business. In his complaint, Requester...

Opinion Ltr. No. F20-04 June 10, 2020 Police Reports A requester appealed the Kauai Police Department’s (KPD) denial of access to two police reports, and assertion that it did not maintain a third.  With respect to the first report, which...

Opinion Ltr. No. F20-03 May 19, 2020 Amendment of Agenda Requester complained that the City Council, City and County of Honolulu (COUNCIL-HON), violated the Sunshine Law when COUNCIL‑HON's Committee on Budget (Committee) added Bill 3 (2019), entitled “A BILL FOR...

Opinion Ltr. No. F20-02 February 4, 2020 Redacted Investigation OIP determined that a confidentiality statute in the State Ethics Code (Ethics Code) required the State Ethics Commission (SEC) to withhold access to a redacted copy of an investigation of a...