Office of Information Practices

S Memo 24-02
June 25, 2024
Email Communication Between Board Members

A requester asked for an opinion as to whether the City and County of Honolulu Neighborhood Commission Office (NCO) correctly concluded that Neighborhood Board 29 (NB29) did not violate the Sunshine Law through a member’s email to the NCO that was copied to other members.

OIP agreed with the NCO’s conclusion, and found that the NB29 member’s email to the NCO, which was sent via blind copy to other NB29 members, did not involve NB29’s board business.  Because the email did not involve board business in the first place, the fact that it was sent via blind copy to the other NB29 members did not result in a discussion of board business outside a meeting in violation of the Sunshine Law.  OIP therefore concluded that NB29 did not violate the Sunshine Law through the email.