Office of Information Practices

The State Office of Information Practice (OIP) is pleased to announce that the State Calendar is being updated to look like other State websites and to be more user friendly. Existing data will be transferred to the new site beginning at 6 p.m. on Sunday, February 21, 2021, and the new State Calendar will be ready for usage by the next morning.  These changes were made at no cost to the State by NIC Hawaii, which provides the following announcement and a set of Calendar Instructions (also attached to OIP’s email of today’s What’s New):

Coming Next Week:  See the new look and feel of the State Calendar application! View the attached Calendar Instructions so you’re ready to go.  These instructions will be available on the Help page.

If you still have technical questions while using the application, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or (808) 695-4620 during regular business hours.

 

OIP reminds boards that the Sunshine Law requires notice of meetings of state boards to be electronically posted on the State Calendar at least six calendar days before the meeting.  For Sunshine Law boards that must post notices on the State Calendar of emergency and continued meetings with less than six days’ notice, the board must first obtain permission by contacting NIC Hawaii at [email protected] from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays (excluding state holidays).  Within one business day, NIC Hawaii will then email the requester with information on how to post a meeting with less than six days’ notice.  Please do not contact OIP for technical assistance with the State Calendar.

Boards must remember, however, to follow all Sunshine Law requirements before posting notice of emergency or continued meetings with less than six days’ notice.  See, e.g., sections 92-7 and -8, HRS (notice and emergency meeting requirements); OIP’s Summary of and the Hawaii Supreme Court’s opinion in Kanahele v. Maui County Council, 130 Haw. 228, 307 P.3d 1174 (2013) (discussing meeting continuances); OIP’s Quick Review:  Continuance of a Meeting Under the Sunshine Law (January 2014); OIP’s Sunshine Law forms page for a Notice of Continuance of Meeting form; and OIP’s Calendar Guidance.

OIP also reminds boards that the Sunshine Law still prohibits amendments to agendas with less than six calendar days’ notice for meetings that are not emergencies or continuances of a duly noticed meeting.  An agenda for a regular, special or anticipated executive meeting must be posted at least six calendar days in advance.  To amend an agenda, the board must follow the requirements of section 92-7(d), HRS, which do not allow amendment by posting an addendum, nor do they allow the addition of items of reasonably major importance when the board’s action thereon will affect a significant number of persons.  OIP’s latest formal opinion on agenda amendments, OIP Opinion No. F20-3, is posted on the opinions page at oip.hawaii.gov.

While technical questions regarding the State Calendar should be directed to NIC Hawaii through the calendar’s chat box or at [email protected] or by calling (808) 695-4620, questions for OIP’s Attorney of the Day regarding the Sunshine Law or Uniform Information Practices Act can be emailed to [email protected].