Office of Information Practices

The State Office of Information Practices (OIP) has posted its FY 2022 Annual Report on its Reports page at oip.hawaii.gov, showing that OIP had a successful year after a long period of  COVID disruptions.

Pent-up demand and return to work after COVID shutdowns apparently resulted in substantial increases in the total number of new formal and informal requests for OIP’s assistance.  OIP was also allowed to fill the last of its vacancies in March 2022.  Despite these workload increases and the need to train new employees, OIP resolved 97% of all requests received in FY 2022 in the same year.  Also, following OIP’s successful shepherding of major legislative amendments allowing remote meetings under the Sunshine Law effective January 1, 2022, OIP extensively revised its online training materials.  OIP resolved 33% more formal cases in FY 2022, but the new formal case filings also increased 14% and informal inquiries increased 76%, so OIP’s backlog of formal cases (mostly appeals) increased by 6% to 99 pending cases.  Unfortunately, a bill that would have authorized two additional positions and funding for OIP to be able to keep up with its increasing workload was vetoed because of its other provisions.

For unbiased open government news, please check for archived copies of What’s New articles that are posted on OIP’s website at oip.hawaii.gov, or upon request, can be emailed to you.  To update your address or begin receiving these articles directly, please provide your email address to [email protected].  Also, if you would like to receive What’s New articles or attachments in a Word format, please contact OIP at (808) 586-1400 or [email protected].