Office of Information Practices

Governor Josh Green signed three bills into law affecting the Sunshine Law.  The Governor also signed into law a bill allowing access to closing police reports by a deceased person’s family members after a set time period.  All the new acts became effective upon approval.

Act 169 (SB 1651 CD1)  changes section 92-7.5, HRS, regarding deadlines for board packets.  A board using a board packet must now make the packet available at least three full business days before the relevant meeting, and must notify people on its meeting list of the packet’s availability at that same time.  Legislative history indicates that a board packet must be available at least six hours before the relevant office closing time for the day to count as a full business day.  For example, if a board’s meeting is scheduled on Thursday and its office closes at 4:30 p.m., then the deadline to make its board packet available would be no later than 10:30 a.m. on the preceding Monday (assuming no intervening holidays)

Act 53 (SB 869 HD1) adds “community outreach boards” as another type of board that, like neighborhood boards, are authorized to use the special permitted interactions and other partial Sunshine Law exceptions set out in part VII of chapter 92, HRS.  Community outreach boards are similar to neighborhood boards in that they are county-level boards that act in an advisory capacity to channel community sentiment; however, they are not necessarily specific to a single area in the same way as neighborhood boards.

Act 72 (SB 405 CD1) expands an existing authorization for neighborhood boards (and now, also community outreach boards) to discuss an issue that was not listed on a meeting agenda but is raised in public testimony, so long as no action is taken except at a future meeting where the issue is on the agenda.  Act 72 adds issues raised in a third-party report from a government official to this existing authorization, so neighborhood boards and community outreach boards can now discuss (but not act on) an issue that is not on the meeting agenda when that issue is raised either in public testimony or in a third-party report from a government official.

Act 017 (SB 112 SD2) amends chapter 52D, HRS to allow surviving immediate family members of deceased persons, for whom law enforcement initiated an investigation, to request and receive a copy of the closing police report after the conclusion of criminal proceedings, five years after the report’s completion, or seven years after the incident, whichever comes first, unless the investigation was reopened six months before the request. ​ The law requires the redaction of information pertaining to minors and confidential personal information.