Office of Information Practices

U Memo 13-8
June 5, 2013
Inter-Agency Memoranda Concerning Surplus Status of Certain Regional Park Parcels

Requester asked whether the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, City and County of Honolulu (BFS) properly denied the request by Save Haleiwa Beach Park (SHBP) for public disclosure of memoranda that BFS sent to and received from other City and County of Honolulu departments concerning the surplus status of certain regional park parcels, as identified by tax map key numbers, under Part II of the UIPA.

OIP found that under the UIPA, BFS is not required to disclose the memoranda that it sent and received from other City departments concerning the identified regional park parcels because the memoranda contain predecisional and deliberative material that falls within the deliberative process privilege. Therefore, the memoranda may be withheld under the UIPA’s exception to disclosure for “[g]overnment records that, by their nature, must be confidential in order for the government to avoid the frustration of a legitimate government function.”  HRS § 92F-13(3) (2012).