HB 2420
Administration bill introduced by Rep. Calvin Say
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B. NO.
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000
STATE OF HAWAII
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE DISCLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT RECORDS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
1 SECTION 1. Under current provisions of chapter 92F, Hawaii
2 Revised Statutes, Hawaii's Uniform Information Practices Act
3 (Modified), absent extenuating circumstances, state and county
4 agencies must respond to requests for information they maintain
5 in written, auditory, visual, electronic, or other physical form
6 within ten business days of receiving the request. Information
7 must be available and accessible for inspection and copying, as
8 long as access to the requested information is not restricted by
9 law. Agencies must provide the information promptly,
10 irrespective of whether the requested information furthers the
11 public's understanding of how the agency performs its statutory
12 duties and responsibilities, facilitates scrutiny of the agency's
13 conduct of the public's business, and fosters agency
14 accountability.
15 With increasing frequency, it appears as though requests for
16 information are made not for purposes of understanding or
17 scrutinizing how government and public officials are performing
18 the public's work. They appear to be made, instead, to secure
19 information for private purposes. Private litigants have
a ATG-11(00)
Page 2 2420
H.B. NO.
1 submitted requests for information maintained by state agencies
2 to get around discovery deadlines that preclude them from
3 securing the same information from each other or from a non-
4 governmental originating source who was required to provide the
5 information to a government agency. Litigants ask administrative
6 agencies that conduct quasi-judicial adjudicatory proceedings for
7 copies of transcripts from proceedings in which they
8 participated, to minimize their litigation costs, understanding
9 that fees for copying government records are significantly less
10 than the fees court reporters charge for transcripts of judicial
11 or administrative proceedings. Businesses request agencies to
12 retrieve and copy documents submitted by their competitors for
13 procurement purposes, not to monitor the State's execution of the
14 public procurement laws, but rather to secure a competitive
15 advantage over their competitors. Persons request access to
16 agency studies and analyses to use in furtherance of their own
17 personal research projects or to sell to third parties for a
18 profit.
19 As a matter of present public policy and administrative
20 rules, priority must be given to responding to each request, even
21 though the request may be made simply to further personal
22 interests wholly unrelated to the operations of government.
23 These kinds of requests undermine the credibility and
a ATG-11(00)
Page 3 2420
H.B. NO.
1 effectiveness of the Uniform Information Practices Act and its
2 underlying purposes and objectives.
3 This Act reiterates the importance of open government,
4 facilitating the public's understanding of how the public's
5 business is conducted, and fostering agency accountability.
6 Affording access to government records that an agency neither
7 generates nor receives in the performance of its duties and
8 responsibilities does nothing to further these objectives, and
9 this Act revises the Uniform Information Practices Act to make
10 clear that agencies need not respond to these kinds of requests.
11 It recognizes that state and county agencies should not have to
12 respond to requests from members of the public who abuse the
13 right of access chapter 92F confers, and revises the chapter to
14 specify that agencies only need to disclose information that they
15 create or require persons to file.
16 SECTION 2. Section 92F-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
17 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
18 "(a) [Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, each
19 agency shall make available for public inspection and duplication
20 during regular business hours:] Unless prohibited by section
21 92F-13, each agency is required to disclose the following
22 government records:
23 (1) Rules of procedure, substantive rules of general
a ATG-11(00)
Page 4 2420
H.B. NO.
1 applicability, statements of general policy, and
2 interpretations of general applicability [adopted by
3 the agency;] it adopts;
4 (2) [Final] The final opinions, including concurring and
5 dissenting opinions, [as well as orders made in the
6 adjudication of cases;] and the orders rendered or
7 entered in adjudications it conducts;
8 (3) [Government purchasing information,] Records relating
9 to its procurements and procurement-related activities,
10 including all bid results[, except to the extent
11 prohibited by section 92F-13];
12 [(4) Pardons and commutations, as well as directory
13 information concerning an individual's presence at any
14 correctional facility;
15 (5) Land ownership,] (4) Ownership, transfer, and lien
16 records, including real property tax information and
17 leases [of state land;] for all land it owns, uses, or
18 manages;
19 [(6)] (5) Results of environmental tests[;] it conducted or
20 directed others to perform;
21 [(7)] (6) Minutes of all [agency] meetings it is required by
22 law to [be] open to the public;
23 [(8)] (7) [Name,] The name, address, and occupation of any
a ATG-11(00)
Page 5 2420
H.B. NO.
1 person borrowing funds from a [state or county] loan
2 program it administers, and the amount, purpose, and
3 current status of the person's loan;
4 [(9)] (8) Certified payroll records [on] for its public
5 works contracts;
6 [(10) Regarding contract hires and consultants employed by
7 agencies: the contract itself, the amount of
8 compensation, the duration of the contract and the
9 objectives of the contract;]
10 (9) Its employment contracts;
11 [(11)] (10) Building [permit information within the control
12 of the agency;] permits and information relating to
13 permits which it issues or obtains, or requires persons
14 to submit to it;
15 [(12) Water service consumption data maintained by the boards
16 of water supply;
17 (13) Rosters of persons holding licenses or permits granted
18 by an agency that may include name, business address,
19 type of license held, and status of the license;]
20 (11) The rosters of persons it licenses, including the name,
21 business address, type, and status of the license it
22 issued;
23 [(14)] (12) The name, compensation (but only the salary range
a ATG-11(00)
Page 6 2420
H.B. NO.
1 for employees covered by or included in chapters 76 and
2 77, and sections 302A-602 to 302-640, and 302A-701, or
3 bargaining unit (8)), job title, business address,
4 business telephone number, job description, education
5 and training background, previous work experience,
6 dates of first and last employment, position number,
7 type of appointment, service computation date,
8 occupational group or class code, bargaining unit code,
9 employing agency name and code, department, division,
10 branch, office, section, unit, and island of
11 employment, of its present or former officers or
12 employees [of the agency]; provided that this paragraph
13 shall not require the creation of a roster of
14 employees; and provided further that this paragraph
15 shall not apply to information regarding present or
16 former employees involved in an undercover capacity in
17 a law enforcement agency;
18 [(15)] (13) Information [collected and maintained] it
19 collects and maintains for the purpose of making
20 information available to the general public; and
21 [(16) Information contained in or compiled from a transcript,
22 minutes, report, or summary of a proceeding]
23 (14) Transcripts of proceedings it conducts that are
a ATG-11(00)
Page 7 2420
H.B. NO.
1 required by law to be open to the public."
2 SECTION 3. Section 92F-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 "¤92F-13 Government records; exceptions to general rule.
5 This part shall not require disclosure of:
6 (1) Government records which, if disclosed, would
7 constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
8 privacy;
9 (2) Government records pertaining to the prosecution or
10 defense of any judicial or quasi-judicial action to
11 which the State or any county is or may be a party, to
12 the extent that such records would not be discoverable;
13 (3) Government records that, by their nature, must be
14 confidential in order for the government to avoid the
15 frustration of a legitimate government function;
16 (4) Government records which, pursuant to state or federal
17 law including an order of any state or federal court,
18 are protected from disclosure; [and]
19 (5) Inchoate and draft working papers of legislative
20 committees including budget worksheets and unfiled
21 committee reports; work product; records or transcripts
22 of an investigating committee of the legislature which
23 are closed by rules adopted pursuant to section 21-4
a ATG-11(00)
Page 8 2420
H.B. NO.
1 and the personal files of members of the
2 legislature[.]; and
3 (6) Government records that an agency maintains but did not
4 originate, by either creating the record or requesting
5 that the record be submitted or filed."
6 SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
7 New statutory material is underscored.
8 SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
9
10 INTRODUCED BY: ___________________________
a ATG-11(00)