Office of Information Practices

The State Office of Information Practices (OIP) has revised the UIPA Record Request Log to be used for the next fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2013. The revised Log and updated training materials are online on OIP’s training page at hawaii.gov/oip. The changes will give OIP and the public a better understanding of how agencies are resolving UIPA requests.

The main change is the addition of a new Column J entitled “Request Needed Initial Clarification,” and all columns after J have been re-lettered. This new column J should be checked when the agency needs initial clarification of a request before it can proceed. Within 10 work days of receiving an unclear request, the agency should send out a Notice to Requester seeking clarification. The requester then has 20 work days to provide clarification. If timely clarification is not received, then the request is deemed abandoned and Column T would be checked. If clarification is received, then the agency should respond.

If the agency ultimately determines that it does not maintain the record or denies the request because it is being asked to create a summary or compilation from records that are not readily retrievable, then re-lettered Column R should be checked for “Agency Unable to Respond to Request.” Note that Column R should be checked only to explain the FINAL resolution of a request, and not as the agency’s initial response to a request. Also, Column R should not be checked off in addition to Columns P or Q, when an agency denies a request in full or in part because of claimed exceptions to disclosure. Only one of Columns O through T should be checked off in the Final Request Resolution section to explain how a request was ultimately resolved.

All state Executive branch departments and the Judiciary should be using the Log to track and report the resolution of Part II and Part III record requests. The Log is proving to be a helpful training, management, and reporting tool to assist agencies in meeting their UIPA responsibilities. For questions about the Log, please contact Michael Little at [email protected] or by calling 586-1400.

For the latest on open government news, check for these archived copies of What’s New articles that are posted here, or e-mailed upon request. To be added to OIP’s e-mail list, please e-mail [email protected]