Source: https://oip.hawaii.gov/laws-rules-opinions/rules/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 16:40:07+00:00

Document:
Here are the survey results and comments, as of October 2, 2017.
On February 26, 1999, following public hearings, OIP’s administrative rules, “Agency Procedures and Fees for Processing Government Records Requests,” took effect.
These rules are set forth at Chapter 71 of Title 2 of the Hawaii Administrative Rules. See below for an unofficial copy of the rules.
Click here for the official copy of OIP’s administrative rules.
See also Quick Guide to OIP’s Administrative Rules, Impact Statement for OIP’s Administrative Rules, and Guidance: Waiver of Fees in the Public Interest.
§2-71-1 Purpose, scope, and construction.
(2) The fees that agencies may charge for searching for, reviewing, and segregating government records and a waiver of these fees when the public interest would be served. The fees set forth in this chapter are not intended to obstruct public access to disclosable government records, but rather are intended to allow agencies to recover some costs in providing access to disclosable records upon request.
“Access” means inspection of disclosable government records, acquisition of copies of disclosable government records, or both, when requested by any person.
“Agency” shall be as defined in section 92F-3, HRS.
“Business day” means a government agency business day within the office hours set forth in section 80-1, HRS, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays observed pursuant to chapter 8, HRS.
“Disclosable record” means a government record that is required to be made available for public inspection and copying under chapter 92F, HRS, after payment of applicable fees.
“Formal request” means a request that is in written, electronic, or other physical form that a person submits to an agency for access to records and that contains the information prescribed by section 2-71-12(b).
“Government record” shall be as defined in section 92F-3, HRS.
“Individual” shall be as defined in section 92F-3, HRS.
“Informal request” means a request, in any form, that a person submits to an agency for access to records and to which the agency responds in accordance with section 2-71-11.
“Maintain” means to hold, possess, preserve, retain, store, or administratively control.
“OIP” means the office of information practices, office of the lieutenant governor, State of Hawaii.
“Person” shall be as defined in section 92F-3, HRS.
“Personal record” shall be as defined in section 92F-3, HRS.
“Prepayment” means the fees that a requester must tender to the agency before the agency begins processing a request for records in accordance with section 2-71-19(b).
“Record” means one or more government records, or any portion thereof, requested for public inspection or copying.
“Requester” means any person making a request for public inspection or copying of a government record under this chapter.
“Review” means to examine a government record, in response to a request for access to the record, in order to determine which portions, if any, of the record are exempt from disclosure by law. Review does not include the time spent by the agency, or another person, to resolve issues of general law or policy regarding the applicability of exceptions to disclosure under chapter 92F, HRS.
“Search” means to look for a government record, including page-by-page or line-by-line identification of a government record. A search may be performed manually or by computer using existing retrieval or programming capabilities.
“Segregate” means to prepare a government record for disclosure by excising any portion of the record that is protected from disclosure under chapter 92F, HRS.
§2-71-3 Reporting to the OIP.
(2) The number of requests for access to records which qualified for a waiver of fees pursuant to section 2-71-32, and the amount of fees waived for each request.
§2-71-11 Informal requests for access to government records; agency response.
(a) Any person may, during an agency’s regular business hours, submit an informal request for access to records.
(1) Provide access to any disclosable record requested pursuant to part II of chapter 92F, HRS, in a reasonably timely manner; provided that if the agency will charge the requester $15 or more in fees, pursuant to section 2-71-19, the agency shall inform the person of the amount of fees, or an estimate thereof, before processing the request.
(2) Deny access to all or any part of the records requested that are confidential under section 92F-13, HRS, or any other law; provided that if the requester disagrees with the agency’s denial, the agency shall advise the requester of the option of submitting a formal request.
(4) Inform the requester to submit a formal request in accordance with section 2-71-12.
(c) When a requester is not satisfied with the agency’s response, or failure to respond, to the informal request, the requester may make a formal request for access to records in accordance with section 2-71-12.
(d) A request that complies with section 2-71-12 shall be treated as a formal request under this chapter, unless otherwise agreed upon by the requester and the agency.
§2-71-12 Formal requests for access to government records; contents.
(a) Any person may, during an agency’s regular business hours, submit a formal request for access to records in accordance with this section.
(4) A request to inspect or obtain a copy of the records described and, if applicable, the means by which the requester would like to receive the copy.
§2-71-13 Formal request received; agency response; time limits.
The agency shall disclose the record within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days.
(2) Disclose the requested record within five business days after providing notice or, when applicable, after receiving a prepayment under section 2-71-19; provided that the agency may disclose incrementally when authorized under section 2-71-15.
(2) Disclose the requested record within five business days after providing notice or, when applicable, after receiving a prepayment under section 2-71-19; except where the agency is authorized to disclose incrementally under section 2-71-15.
(d) When a unit of an agency receives a request for a record that should have been otherwise directed to another unit of the same agency for a response, the unit receiving the request shall promptly forward the request to the head of the unit’s department.
(e) When one unit of an agency forwards a request to the head of that department, the duties of this section do not commence until the head receives the request.
(f) When an agency receives a request for a record that it does not maintain and reasonably believes that another agency maintains the record, the agency receiving the request shall provide a notice in accordance with section 2-71-14(c)(1).
(C) The amount of prepayment required, if any.
(5) A description of extenuating circumstances, if any, under section 2-71-15, and, if it is the case, the agency’s intent to disclose the records incrementally.
(2) The specific legal authorities under which the request for access is denied under section 92F-13, HRS, or other laws.
(3) The request requires the agency to create a summary or compilation of information from records that is not readily retrievable.
§2-71-15 Extenuating circumstances; incremental disclosures.
(4) A natural disaster or other situation beyond the agency’s control prevents the agency from sending a notice or responding to the request within ten business days.
(B) Receipt of each incremental prepayment required under this rule.
(2) The requester abandons the request.
§2-71-16 Requester’s responsibilities; abandonment of request.
(3) If able, provide the agency with further clarification or description of the requested record if so requested by the agency’s notice under section 2-71-14.
(2) The date that the agency made the record available under section 2-71-13 or 2-71-15 if the requester was informed in a reasonable manner as to when and where the record would be made available.
§2-71-17 Segregation of information in records.
(2) Provide a notice to the requester in accordance with section 2-71-14(b) regarding information that is not disclosed.
(b) An agency shall segregate information from a requested record in such a way so that it is reasonably apparent that information has been removed from the record. An agency shall not replace information that has been segregated with information or text that did not appear in the original record.
§2-71-18 Location of disclosure; alternatives.
(a) The location where an agency makes a record available to the requester for inspection or copying shall be where the agency maintains the record or where the agency has accommodations for inspection and copying.
(b) If access to a record is requested at a location other than as provided in subsection(a), the agency shall make a reasonable effort to accommodate the request so long as the record is not the agency’s only original record and the arrangement does not unreasonably interfere with the agency’s functions.
(c) When a requester requests that a copy of a record be transmitted by mail, telefax, or other means, the agency shall make a reasonable effort to transmit the copy of the record in the manner sought by the requester; provided that the requester pays all fees assessed under section 2-71-19 and the transmission does not unreasonably interfere with the agency’s functions.
§2-71-19 Assessment of fees; prepayment.
(2) Any other lawful fees.
(3) One hundred per cent of the outstanding fees from previous requests, including abandoned requests, in accordance with subsection (d).
(c) The agency shall inform the requester of the requirement to prepay in its notice in accordance with section 2-71-14.
(d) A requester is liable for and shall pay any fees outstanding for services rendered by an agency to respond to any previous or current request. Upon written request, the agency shall provide an itemized bill of all fees assessed.
§2-71-20 Public access to disclosable records provided by a secondary source.
(2) Performs, as necessary, any review and segregation of a government record before providing the record, or a copy thereof, to the secondary source for the purpose of making the record available for public inspection and copying upon request.
(b) “Secondary source” means a person, including another agency, commercial entity, or nonprofit organization, with whom an agency makes arrangements to offer public inspection and copying of disclosable information from government records of the agency.
§2-71-31 Fees for searching for, reviewing, and segregating records; exceptions.
(3) If applicable, the actual rate of charge, based upon time expenditure, that is charged to the agency by a person other than the agency for services to assist the agency in the search for the record.
The agency shall not assess the first $30 in total amount of the fees under paragraphs (1) and (2).
(B) Additional equipment or software used to search for, review, or segregate the information.
(c) An agency that will establish fees under subsection (b) shall submit, before initiating the chapter 91 rulemaking process, to the OIP for review a copy of the rule, including any amendments, setting forth the fees.
(2) To the extent permitted by section 2-71-32, the agency finds that the public interest would be served by a waiver of these fees.
(e) An agency may waive the fees for any agency or any federal or foreign government entity requesting access to a government record.
§2-71-32 Waiver of fees when public interest served.
(2) The agency finds that the waiver of fees would be in the public interest pursuant to this section.
(3) The requester has the primary intention and the actual ability to widely disseminate information from the government record to the general public at large.
§2-71-33 Fees charged for records that will not be disclosed.
The agency may assess and collect fees for the search or review of a government record in accordance with section 2-71-31 even if the requested record will not be disclosed in its entirety, or a substantial portion thereof, if the agency reasonably believed that the requested record would be disclosable before searching for or reviewing the record. If the requester fails to pay the fees, the agency may assess the outstanding fees in accordance with section 2-71-19.

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