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Opinion Letter No. 92-04
June 10, 1992
Petitions for Name Change
The OIP determined that neither section 574-5(e),
Hawaii Revised Statutes, nor administrative rules
adopted by the Lieutenant Governor, authorize the Lieutenant Governor
to withhold access to all
name change petitions and fact sheets under the UIPA’s exception
for government records protected
from disclosure by "state or federal law."
The OIP concluded the State statute cited above made confidential
only those few name change
petitions that are supported by an affidavit from a prosecuting
attorney showing that, for the protection of the petitioner, the
publication, recordation, and reporting provisions of the State’s
name change law should not be required. Based upon the UIPA’s
legislative history, the OIP also found that, under the UIPA, administrative
rules adopted by an agency under a general delegation of rule-making
authority do not constitute a "state law" that protects
records from disclosure.
However, after examining information contained in a petition for
a name change, and in the fact sheet
that accompanies each name change petition, the OIP concluded that
these government records are
protected by the UIPA’s "clearly unwarranted invasion
of personal privacy exception." In contrast,
the OIP found name change orders entered by the Lieutenant Governor
must be made available for
public inspection, except upon submission of an affidavit from a
prosecuting attorney showing that the
publication requirement of the State’s name change law should
not be required.
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