RRS Page for the Public

How to Retrieve Information from the Records Report System

The Records Report System (“RRS”) is a large computerized database, with descriptions of more than 29,000 record titles.

The RRS can assist you in identifying the various types of records maintained by State and county government agencies.

The RRS lists record titles. It does not contain the actual individual records. The RRS reports contain no confidential information.

To request access to a record, contact the department that maintains the record. Each RRS report includes contact information for the department officer in charge of the record. OIP does not maintain these department records.

RRS Site:

  • Read the instructions and tips below. Then visit the RRS site.
  • Once there, you can use key words to search the RRS for information about State and county government records.
  • You can also create reports to list a department’s record titles, sort a department’s records by access class (public or confidential), view a full report for any record title, and see a report on the number of UIPA-related lawsuits, by year and by department.
  • Guide to Using the RRS on the Internet: This 12-page user’s guide will walk you through the search and reports features to retrieve information from the RRS. For best results, print the guide and use it on the RRS Internet site.
  • Read the tips below to get the most from the RRS.

Tips for Using the RRS:

  • Narrow your search.
    For example, you select “Search the Records Report System.” Then, for “Record Name,” you enter the key word “contract.” For “Department,” you leave blank for All Departments and click on “Search.” The result is a list of more than 500 records with “contract” in the title. To narrow your search, return to the search page, enter the key word “contract” for Record Name, and select a particular department in the pulldown list (State departments are at the bottom of the list, beginning with “SOH”), then click on “Search.”
  • View the full record report for any record title.
    Once you have a list of records from your search, or from a report, you can view the full record report for any single record title by clicking on the record’s unique number (“RSN”).
  • Search by department.
    For example, you select “Record Name and RSN Report.” Then, from the pulldown menu you select “SOH/University of Hawaii,” and click on “Search.” The result is an alphabetical list of the department’s record titles.
  • See which records are public.
    You select “Records by Access Classification Report,” then select a department (for example, “SOH/University of Hawaii”) from the pulldown list and click on “Search.” You then see a list of the department’s records, sorted alphabetically by record name, with the access class for each record, such as “public” or “confidential.” To resort the report by access class, you click on the column header “Access Classification.”
  • Know the five access classifications.
    Hawaii’s public records law, the UIPA, governs access to State and county records.
    In the RRS, departments can use five possible access classifications for their records:

    • Public – public access required.
    • Confidential – no public access permitted.
    • Confidential/Conditional – access permitted only to those persons, or under those conditions, described by specific statute(s).
    • Confidential/Conditional – access permitted to public after segregation of information protected from disclosure by an applicable UIPA exception.
    • Undetermined – access will be determined at a later date.

Questions?
If you have questions about the RRS, please call the Office of Information Practices at (808) 586-1400 and ask for the Records Report Specialist, or email your questions to OIP.