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Opinion Letter No. 01-07
December 31, 2001
Maui County Charter
A member of the Maui County Council requested an
opinion on whether section 3-8 of the Charter of
the County of Maui can require council members to route requests
to county agencies for public
information through the Mayor's office.
The OIP found that the county charter cannot require this routing.
The UIPA allows "any person"
access to government records. Should an executive choose to institute
a routing system for record
requests, however, the executive should ensure not to discriminate
against a particular class of
"persons" who are entitled by law to request records,
such as council members.
In addition, while the UIPA does not prohibit routing of all requests
for government records through
the executive of a government administration, the OIP does not recommend
such a practice be
standard operating procedure.
Such a routing of record requests through a central office will
likely cause unnecessary delays in the
receipt of public records, which would violate the UIPA's policy
that the public be given accurate,
relevant, timely, and complete government records. Haw. Rev. Stat.
Section 92F-2 (1993).
This practice may also violate the time limits and procedures for
processing record requests that are
set forth at section 2-71-13, Hawaii Administrative Rules.
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