1. LINDA LINGLE
GOVERNOC STATE OF HAWAII
OFFICE OF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
0 FF1 CE OF INFORMATION PRACTI C ES
NO. 1 CAPITOL DISTRICT BUILDING
25D SOUTH HOTEL STREET, SUITE 107
HONOLULU, HAWAI’I 96813
Telephone: 18081 586-1400 FAX: 18081 586-1412
E-MAIL: oip@hawaii.gov
www.hawaii.gov oip
September 10, 2010
VIA STATE MESSENGER
The Honorable Barry Fukunaga
Chief of Staff
Office of the Governor
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Re: Appeal from Denial of Access to General Records (APPEAL 11-6)
Dear Mr. Fukunaga:
The Office of Infonnation Practices (OTP) has received an appeal from Mr. Michael
Levine, a reporter from Honolulu Civil Beat, with respect to the Office of the Governor’s denial
of his request for records made under part II of the Uniform Information Practices Act
(Modified), chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes (UIPA). Specifically, Mr. Levine has
indicated that he made a written request to the Governor dated August 3, 2010 for access to
“[a]ny and all written and electronic communications between the Office of the Governor or any
of its staff or employees and the Judicial Selection Commission or any of its members or
employees since January 1, 2010.”
Mr. Levine has provided us with copies of two letters from you dated August 18, 2010,
and one dated August 30, 2010. Copies of Mr. Levine’s request to OIP and his record request to
the Governor are enclosed for your information. It is our understanding, based upon the log of
documents withheld that was provided to Mr. Levine by you with your August 30 letter, that the
oniy records maintained that are being withheld are the applicant summaries provided to the
Governor by the Commission with its respective lists of nominees.
Please note that because of a recent Hawaii Supreme Court case and staff constraints, OIP
is currently issuing advisory opinions rather than determinations in response to UIPA appeals.
See Announcement on OIP’s website for a full discussion.

2. The Honorable Barry Fukunaga
September 10, 2010
Page 2
For your information, I am enclosing a copy of OIP Opinion Letter Number 03-03. In
that opinion, OIP overruled a prior opinion regarding whether the Commission’s rule requiring
confidentiality applied to records received by the Governor from the Commission. Specifically,
OIP noted that the Hawaii Supreme Court in Pray v. Judicial Selection Commission of the State
of Hawaii, 75 Haw. 333 (1993), held inter alia that the Commission rule requiring confidentiality
does not extend to the Governor as appointing authority after the list ofjudicial nominees is
received. OIP also there opined that disclosure of the list of nominees would not, due to the
importance ofjudicial appointments, be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of the
nominees under HRS § 92F-13(1).
Please feel free to contact me to discuss application of this court case and the OIP opinion
cited to the applicant summaries. If your office determines that the applicant summaries may be
provided to the requester, or wishes to provide OIP with additional justification or argument to
support withholding of those records for OW’s consideration in rendering an opinion on
requester’s appeal, please notify OIP or provide any additional information or argument within
ten business days from the date of this letter. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 92F-15(c) (UIPA places the
burden on the agency to establish justification for the nondisclosure of government records).
Please be advised that, for purposes of complying with the UIPA, an agency should not
destroy a requested record that may be required to be made available for public inspection by OIP
or the court. See OW Op. Ltr. No. 92-13 at 6 n.1.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance in this matter. Please do not
hesitate to contact the undersigned if you have any questions or require assistance in responding
to this letter.
Very truly yours,
Cathy L. Takase
Acting Director
CLT:dms
Enclosures
cc: Mr. Michael Levine (without enclosures)