Formal Opinions

Opinion Letter No. 06-05 July 19, 2006 Amendment of Agenda; Executive Meeting Agenda OIP opined that section 92-7(d) of the Sunshine Law did not allow amendment of the Hawaii County Council’s meeting agenda to consult with its Corporation Counsel in...

Opinion Letter No. 06-04 June 14, 2006 Written Testimony Implicating Privacy Interests of a Third Party The Office of the City Clerk, City and County of Honolulu (the "City Clerk"), sought an opinion on whether part II of the UIPA...

Opinion Letter No. 06-03 May 9, 2006 Student-Athlete Testing Records After the Athletic Department of the University of Hawaii, Manoa withheld records relating to the Athletic Department’s testing of student-athletes for banned substances, the Honolulu Advertiser appealed that denial to...

Opinion Letter No. 06-02 April 28, 2006 Finance Investigative Task Force The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority’s (“NELHA”) Board of Directors formed a Finance Investigative Committee to investigate, as a permitted interaction, the charges to be used in negotiating...

Opinion Letter No. 06-01 February 28, 2006 Public Testimony [This opinion was affected by Act 264 of 2022.  That act amended section 92-3, HRS, to prohibit boards from limiting public testimony "to the beginning of a board's agenda or meeting,"...

Opinion Letter No. 05-18 December 9, 2005 Disclosure of Plantation Archive Records (RFO 03-044)  OIP received a request for an opinion regarding the records received from Hawaii Sugar Planters’ Association that comprise the Plantation Archives held by the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library...

Opinion Letter No. 05-17 November 17, 2005 Request for Emergency 911 Tape On October 12, 2005, the Hawaii County Police Department (“HCPD”) received an emergency 911 telephone call concerning an “accidental stabbing.” Authorities responding to the 911 call discovered the...

Opinion Letter No. 05-16 November 1, 2005 Request to CVCC for records pertaining to Criminal Case A convicted felon made a request to the Crime Victim Compensation Commission (“CVCC”) for records pertaining to the criminal case that resulted in his...

Opinion Letter No. 05-15 August 4, 2005 Serial One-On-One Communications A City Council member may not use the “permitted interaction” under section 92-2.5(a) of the Sunshine Law (which allows two members to discuss “board business” with each other outside of...

Opinion Letter No. 05-14 May 26, 2005 Withholding of Inmate Records and Regulations on Inmate Access Rights In response to a request by the Department of Public Safety ("PSD"), the OIP reached the following conclusions on the withholding of inmate...