Office of Information Practices

With the recent deployment of the new UIPA Record Request Log to the state Executive Branch agencies and the Judiciary, OIP received several inquiries regarding whether specific types of record requests their agencies commonly receive are in fact “routine requests,” which do not need to be recorded in the Log.

As the Log Instructions state, examples of routine requests include requests for copies of UH transcripts or DOH vital records (birth or death certificates, etc). A routine request could also include requests for agency publications, such as DoTAX instructions for completing tax forms. In the case of one federally funded agency that routinely provides (at no charge, due to federal requirements) personal medical records that are not reviewed or segregated, Log entries need not be kept. Although these types of routine requests may but need not be entered in Log, the agencies should somehow keep track of the total number of routine requests they receive so that this number can be manually entered into their Log totals each semiannual reporting period for uploading to the Master Log on https://data.hawaii.gov.

Any request that requires the agency to send out a “Notice to Requester” or an “Acknowledgement” is not a routine request, and should be recorded in the Log. Agencies should be sending out the notice or acknowledgement if they need time to search for the record, and whenever the requested record must be reviewed or segregated.

For more detailed instructions and online training for the Record Request Log, please see OIP’s UIPA Record Request Log training materials. To receive updates on the Log or other OIP and open government news, look here on the What’s New page, or ask to be placed on OIP’s e-mail list for weekly What’s New updates.