Office of Information Practices

October 15, 2012

Attorneys, don’t forget to register for this Friday’s continuing legal education course that the state Office of Information Practices (OIP) is conducting in collaboration with the Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) to educate attorneys about important updates in the open government laws and exciting new procedural and technological changes that will help to make Hawaii’s state and county governments even more open and accessible to the public. As there will be no in-person presentations on the neighbor islands, this course will be broadcast live in a webinar on the same day, October 19, 2012. The 1.5 hour-long course is eligible for 1.5 mandatory continuing professional education (MCPE) credits.

The course will inform attendees about the new Sunshine Law changes that went into effect in July 2012, as well as the new law allowing government agencies to appeal from OIP’s decisions beginning in January 2013. The proposed administrative rules governing appeals to OIP will also be discussed, along with recent open government litigation and OIP opinions. Moreover, the course will explain OIP’s new tool to help agencies comply with the Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA)—the UIPA Records Request Log—and how it fits into Governor Neil Abercrombie’s new open data initiative and the State’s new website.

Legal counsel to the state and county agencies as well as private sector attorneys advising clients that work with government agencies should become familiar with the new laws and procedural requirements. The course will be presented in Honolulu at the State Capitol Auditorium on Friday, October 19, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and will also be live streamed on the internet.

The HSBA’s course charge is $45 for early registration by government lawyers, $55 for general early registration, and $70 for late registration after October 17. For more information and course registration, go to the HSBA’s website athttps://www.legalspan.com/hsba/catalog.asp?ItemID=20121001-299250-213434&override=1&PrintPage=1.