REPORT TITLE:
Uniform Information Practices


DESCRIPTION:
Clarifies that agencies have 10 working days from the date of
receipt of the request by the agency to respond to a request for
personal records under section 92F-23.  Makes the office of
information practices permanent and places it within the office
of the ombudsman. (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2586
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CHAPTER 92F, UNIFORM INFORMATION PRACTICES ACT
   (MODIFIED).


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1                              Part I.
 
 2      SECTION 1.  Section 92F-23, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 3 amended to read as follows:
 
 4      "[[]§92F-23[]] Access to personal record; initial procedure.
 
 5 Upon the request of an individual to gain access to the
 
 6 individual's personal record, an agency shall permit the
 
 7 individual to review the record and have a copy made within ten
 
 8 working days following the date of [the request] receipt of the
 
 9 request by the agency unless the personal record requested is
 
10 exempted under section 92F-22.  The ten-day period may be
 
11 extended for an additional twenty working days if the agency
 
12 provides to the individual, within the initial ten working days,
 
13 a written explanation of unusual circumstances causing the
 
14 delay."
 
15                             Part II.
 
16      SECTION 2.  The legislature finds that the office of
 
17 information practices was established in 1988 to promote the
 
18 public's right to access government records by providing
 
19 guidelines and opinions regarding the disclosure of such records,
 
20 educating the public regarding their right to access records, and 
 

 
Page 2                                                     2586
                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 ruling on agency denials of access to information.  The office
 
 2 was originally established within the department of the attorney
 
 3 general and in 1998 was made temporary and placed within the
 
 4 office of the lieutenant governor for administrative purposes.  
 
 5      The legislature further finds that government agencies exist
 
 6 to aid the public in the formation and conduct of public policy,
 
 7 and that appropriate public access to government records should
 
 8 be considered a right rather than a privilege.  The office of
 
 9 information practices is a key component in the State's overall
 
10 plan to make government records more accessible and less costly
 
11 to retrieve.  Thus, the legislature agrees that it is in the
 
12 State's best interest to ensure appropriate public access to
 
13 government records.  The purpose of this Act, therefore, is to
 
14 make the office of information practices a permanent office and
 
15 place it within the office of the ombudsman in the legislative
 
16 branch of government.
 
17      SECTION 3.  Section 92F-41, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
18 amended to read as follows:
 
19      "§92F-41  Office of information practices; established.(a)
 
20 There is established [a temporary] an office of information
 
21 practices [for a special purpose] within the office of the
 
22 [lieutenant governor] ombudsman for administrative purposes.
 

 
 
 
Page 3                                                     2586
                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (b)  The [governor shall appoint a director of the office of
 
 2 information practices to be its chief executive officer and who
 
 3 shall be exempt from chapters 76 and 77.] legislature, by a
 
 4 majority vote of each house in joint session, shall appoint a
 
 5 director for the office who shall serve for a period of six years
 
 6 and thereafter until a successor shall be appointed.  The
 
 7 legislature, by two-thirds vote of the members in joint session,
 
 8 may remove or suspend the director from office, but only for
 
 9 neglect of duty, misconduct, or disability.
 
10      If the director dies, resigns, becomes ineligible to serve,
 
11 or is removed or suspended from office, the first assistant to
 
12 the director shall become the acting director until a new
 
13 director is appointed.
 
14      The salary of the director shall be $85,302 a year.  The
 
15 salary of the director shall not be diminished during the
 
16 director's term of office, unless by general law applying to all
 
17 salaried officers of the State.
 
18      (c)  All powers and duties of the office of information
 
19 practices are vested in the director and may be delegated to any
 
20 other officer or employee of the office.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (d)  The director may employ any other personnel that are
 
 2 necessary, including but not limited to a first assistant,
 
 3 attorneys, and clerical staff without regard to chapters 76 and
 
 4 77."
 
 5      SECTION 4.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 6 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so
 
 7 much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001, for
 
 8 the office of information practices.  The sum appropriated shall
 
 9 be expended by the office of the ombudsman for the purposes of
 
10 this Act.
 
11      SECTION 5.  The current director shall serve as the acting
 
12 director of the office of information practices until a director
 
13 is appointed by the legislature pursuant to this Act.
 
14      SECTION 6.  All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the
 
15 office of information practices are transferred to the office of
 
16 the ombudsman.
 
17      All officers and employees whose functions are transferred
 
18 by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall
 
19 continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer,
 
20 subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.
 
21      No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall
 
22 suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit,
 
23 vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a
 

 
Page 5                                                     2586
                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be
 
 2 transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the
 
 3 necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee
 
 4 possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which
 
 5 transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in
 
 6 status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and
 
 7 compensation laws.
 
 8      An officer or employee of the State who does not have tenure
 
 9 and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil service
 
10 position as a consequence of this Act shall become a civil
 
11 service employee without the loss of salary, seniority, prior
 
12 service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits
 
13 or privileges and without the necessity of examination; provided
 
14 that such officer or employee possesses the minimum
 
15 qualifications for the position to which transferred or
 
16 appointed.
 
17      In the event that an office or position held by an officer
 
18 or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee
 
19 shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall
 
20 remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and
 
21 classification and shall be transferred to some other office or
 
22 position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the
 
 2 department or the governor.
 
 3      All appropriations, records, equipment, machines, files,
 
 4 supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents, maps, and other
 
 5 personal property heretofore made, used, acquired, or held by the
 
 6 office of the lieutenant governor relating to the functions
 
 7 transferred to the office of the ombudsman shall be transferred
 
 8 with the functions to which they relate."
 
 9                             Part III.
 
10      SECTION 7.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
11 New statutory material is underscored.
 
12      SECTION 8.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval;
 
13 provided that Part II of this Act shall take effect on July 1,
 
14 2000.