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Opinion Letter No. 02-10
October 23, 2002
Adjudicative Records of the Judiciary, Administrative Driver's License
Revocation Office
The Judiciary, Office of the Administrative Director
of the Courts, Administrative Driver's License
Revocation Office ("ADLRO") requested an opinion concerning
whether the government records it
maintains concerning its adjudicative functions are subject to the
Uniform Information Practices Act
(Modified), chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes ("UIPA").
The OIP informed the ADLRO that only the ADLRO's administrative
records are subject to the
UIPA. The OIP looked to the UIPA's definition of agency, which excludes
the "non-administrative
functions of the courts of this state." Haw. Rev. Stat. §92F-3
(1993). The OIP also looked to the
recommendations of the Governor's Committee on Public Records and
Privacy, relied upon by the
Legislature in drafted the UIPA, which recommended that the UIPA
only apply to the administrative
records of the Judiciary. The Legislative history of the UIPA also
indicates that the UIPA is only to
apply to the administrative records of the Judiciary.
As the Hawaii Supreme Court has previously determined that the tasks
of the ADLRO are "clearly
judicial in nature," the OIP therefore determined that the
ADLRO performs an adjudicative function.
Therefore, its non-administrative, adjudicatory records (those records
associated with the review of
evidence and decision-making) are not subject to the UIPA.
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