U Memo 26-01

Posted on Aug 18, 2025 in Informal Opinions - UIPA Opinions

U Memo 26-01
August 18, 2025
Reasonable Search for Maui Fire Relief Contracts

Requester sought all state contracts pertaining to the “Maui Fires and Emergency Relief” from the Office of the Governor (GOV), although requester believed the Department of Budget and Finance (B&F) likely held the records.  GOV disclosed one responsive record but did not obtain records from other executive agencies.  Requester questioned GOV’s claim that no additional records existed and asserted that GOV should obtain the records from the procuring agencies under its executive authority. 

OIP concluded that the executive branch as a whole is not a single “agency” under section 92F-3, HRS.  Rather, each individual unit of the executive branch (e.g., department) is considered an agency.  OIP’s rules require agencies to follow specific procedures when a formal request is received by “the head of the unit’s department.”  HAR § 2-71-13(d), (e).  The head of each executive department is determined by statute in chapter 26, HRS.  HRS §§ 26-5 to -21.  Under section 26-8, HRS, B&F is headed by the director of finance.  OIP concluded that submitting a request to GOV alone does not obligate all executive departments to respond, nor is GOV required to provide records it did not maintain, or maintained by other agencies within the executive branch. 

When reviewing an agency’s claim that no additional records exist, OIP generally examines whether an agency conducted a reasonable search.  OIP Op. Ltr. No. 97-8 at 46.  A reasonable search is one “reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents,’ and an agency must make ‘a good faith effort to conduct a search for the requested records, using methods which can be reasonably expected to produce the information requested.”  OIP Op. Ltr. No. 97-8 at 5.  OIP found that GOV conducted a search that was reasonably calculated to uncover responsive records.  OIP concluded that GOV fulfilled its obligations under the UIPA and had no further duty to search for additional records.