2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes
Title 8. Public Proceedings and Records
92. Public Agency Meetings and Records
92-9 Minutes.

§92-9 Minutes. (a) The board shall keep written or recorded minutes of all meetings. Unless otherwise required by law, neither a full transcript nor a recording of the meeting is required, but the minutes shall give a true reflection of the matters discussed at the meeting and the views of the participants. Written minutes shall include, but need not be limited to:

(1) The date, time and place of the meeting;

(2) The members of the board recorded as either present or absent;

(3) The substance of all matters proposed, discussed, or decided; and a record, by individual member, of any votes taken; and

(4) Any other information that any member of the board requests be included or reflected in the minutes.

(b) The minutes shall be made available to the public by posting on the board's website or, if the board does not have a website, on an appropriate state or county website within forty days after the meeting except where such disclosure would be inconsistent with section 92-5; provided that minutes of executive meetings may be withheld so long as their publication would defeat the lawful purpose of the executive meeting, but no longer. A written summary shall accompany any minutes that are posted in a digital or analog recording format and shall include:

(1) The date, time, and place of the meeting;

(2) The members of the board recorded as either present or absent, and the times when individual members entered or left the meeting;

(3) A record, by individual member, of motions and votes made by the board; and

(4) A time stamp or other reference indicating when in the recording the board began discussion of each agenda item and when motions and votes were made by the board.

(c) All or any part of a meeting of a board may be recorded by any person in attendance by any means of reproduction, except when a meeting is closed pursuant to section 92-4; provided the recording does not actively interfere with the conduct of the meeting. [L 1975, c 166, pt of §1; am L 2017, c 64, §4]

Attorney General Opinions

This section and § §92-1 and 92-7 require commission to specify subject matter of items on public meeting agenda; agency responsible to make its minutes available to public. Att. Gen. Op. 85-2.

This section and §92-5(a)(2) read together permit board and commission members to disclose some matters deliberated or decided in executive session, but they cannot disclose matters which would be inconsistent with §92-5(a)(2), i.e., matters affecting privacy of individuals under consideration for hire and they must maintain this confidentiality for as long as disclosure would defeat purpose of convening the executive meeting. Att. Gen. Op. 94-1.

Case Notes

In a suit deciding whether disclosure of county council executive session minutes was required, circuit court properly found that both chapter 92F and this chapter applied; if the meeting met an exception to the open meeting requirements put forth in this chapter, such as an exception enumerated in §92-5, the council was not required to disclose the minutes of that meeting to the public; if the meeting did not fall under such an exception, the council was required to disclose the minutes pursuant to this section and §92F-12. 120 H. 34 (App.), 200 P.3d 403.