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Opinion Letter No. 95-24
October 6, 1995
Summaries and Factual Information from Management Opinion Survey
Disclosable
Verbatim Comments and Opinions Are Confidential
The OIP considered public access to a report which
surveyed the effectiveness, productivity, and
employee satisfaction of state agencies. Under the UIPA, the survey
participants had a significant
privacy interest regarding personal recommendations or evaluations
contained within the Survey
Report. However, as disclosure of this information would shed light
on the government’s operations
and working conditions, the OIP concluded that the personal recommendations
or evaluations could
not be withheld under the disclosure exception in section 92F-13(1),
Hawaii Revised Statutes.
The OIP also considered whether disclosure of survey
participants’ comments and opinions, contained
within the Survey Report, would frustrate a legitimate government
function under section 92F-13(3),
Hawaii Revised Statutes. The OIP observed that disclosure of these
verbatim comments, which were
predecisional and deliberative, might "chill" the candid
exchange of opinions which, in turn, might affect the quality of
agencies’ decision making. Thus, under UIPA disclosure exception
92F-13(3), the
agency would not be required to disclose participants’ verbatim
comments. However, summaries and
aggregate information within the Survey Report which were not linked
to any individual did have to be
disclosed because this primarily factual information, if disclosed,
would not "chill" future responses to
surveys or otherwise impair the quality of agencies’ decision
making.
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