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Click on your state to view detailed FOIA guidance
Click on your state to view detailed FOIA guidance
Each state page includes: response deadlines, fee structures, special rights, exemptions, enforcement options, and success strategies
- Statute
- Haw. Rev. Stat. §91-1 et seq.
- Year Enacted
- 1970 (amended 2024)
- Response Deadline
- 10 business days
- Who Can Request
- Anyone
- Fees
- Yes — waiver available
- Attorney Fees
- Recoverable if you win
- Enforcement
- Multiple mechanisms
Last verified: February 18, 2026
Use Hawaii FOIA TemplateDefinition of Public Record
Records include all materials maintained in government offices and agencies including all records whether they be written, auditory, visual, electronic, or other physical form.
Exemptions to Public Records
Exemptions of this act are records that constitute an invasion of privacy, records of current judicial proceeding of which the agency receiving the request is a part, and confidential government records, inchoate and draft working papers of legislative committees including budget worksheets and unfiled committee reports.
🔍 Search Common Exemptions
Exemption database for HI is being compiled. Check back soon!
Who Can Make a Request?
Anyone
Response Timeframe
Up to 10 days.
📅 Calculate Your Response Deadline
Information on Fees
UIPA authorizes agencies to charge a reasonable cost of not less than five cents per page. $2.50 per fifteen minutes for an agency search for the record; $5.00 per fifteen minutes for an agency review and segregation of the record; and the actual rate that is charged to the agency by a person outside the agency for services to assist in the search. Haw. Admin. Rules § 2-71-31(a). The first $30 of fees for search, review and segregation of a record are automatically waived.
Enforcement Mechanisms
The state records ombudsman or OIP have jurisdiction to investigate any agency potentially not operating within the proper confines of the UIPA.
Attorney Fees
Yes, you can win attorney’s fees.
🚀 Ready to Request Records?
Choose how you want to proceed with your HI public records request:
💡 Both options provide comprehensive, well-formatted requests based on HI transparency law.