U MEMO 26-13

U MEMO 26-13
May 18, 2026
Failure to Justify Nondisclosure of Responsive Records

Requester sought a decision as to whether the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) properly responded to her requests for copies of records under the UIPA.  HTA initially informed the Requester that it did not maintain records responsive to her request.  After the appeal opened, HTA partially disclosed records.  However, Requester asserted that HTA did not provide records or a response to portions of her requests (Remaining Requests).  

The UIPA places the burden on an agency to prove that its nondisclosure of government records is justified.  Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 92F-15(c).  When a requester appeals an agency’s claim that it does not maintain a requested record, OIP reviews whether the agency conducted a reasonable search.  OIP Op. Ltr. No. 97-8 at 4-6.  A reasonable search is one “reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents,” and an agency must make “a good faith effort to conduct a search for the requested records, using methods which can be reasonably expected to produce the information requested.”   Id. at 5 (citations omitted).  OIP repeatedly asked HTA to respond to the Remaining Requests or, if no records existed, to provide details of its search.  HTA did not provide a substantive response or the requested search information.  

Based on the submittals and lack of any substantive response, OIP found that HTA provided no evidence that it searched for such records, and that HTA therefore failed to conduct a reasonable search for records responsive to the Remaining Requests.  OIP concluded that HTA did not satisfy its burden of proof to justify its nondisclosure of the Remaining Requests as required by section 92F-15(c), HRS, and therefore concluded that HTA did not properly respond to Requester’s requests for records under the UIPA.