Report Title:

Government Records; Electronic Copies; Remote Access

Description:

Requires agencies to provide electronic copies of government records; allows agencies to charge not more than 25 cents per page for paper copies of records not exceeding 8.5 by 14 inches; allows agencies to provide read only remote access to government records. (SD1)

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

427

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to government records.

 

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending the title of Part III. to read:

"PART III. COPIES OF GOVERNMENT RECORDS; COSTS AND FEES"

2. By amending section 92-21 to read:

"§92-21 Copies of government records; [other costs and] fees; remote access. (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, a copy of any government record, including any map, plan, diagram, photograph, photostat, or geographic information system digital data file, which is open to [the] inspection [of] by the public, shall be furnished to any person applying for the same by the public officer having charge or control thereof upon the payment of the reasonable cost of reproducing such copy. Except as provided in section 91-2.5, the cost of reproducing paper copies of any government record, except geographic information system digital data, shall not be [less than 5] more than 25 cents per page, sheet, or fraction thereof[.]; provided that the document page size does not exceed eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches. Agencies that routinely work with documents that exceed eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 setting forth the maximum cost per page, sheet, or fraction thereof. The cost of reproducing geographic information system digital data or any other government record in an electronic format shall be in accordance with rules adopted by the agency having charge or control of that data[. Such reproduction cost shall include but shall not be limited to labor cost for search and actual time for reproducing, material cost, including electricity cost, equipment cost, including rental cost, cost for certification, and other related costs.]; provided that such costs shall be reasonable and, to the extent possible, uniform between agencies. The reproduction costs shall be limited to the direct costs incurred in producing a copy in an electronic format, including the use of information technology supplies and labor costs if new programming and information technology services are required for data compilation or extraction. Any agency that maintains government records in an electronic format shall make such government records available in an electronic format, upon request by any person, unless otherwise prohibited by law. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require an agency to reconstruct a government record in an electronic format if the agency no longer has the information available in an electronic format.

(b) Any agency may provide read only access to government records by remote electronic means. The public officer providing such access may charge a fee under a contractual agreement with a user, which fee shall include the direct and indirect costs of providing such access. The public officer shall provide safeguards to protect the contents of government records from unauthorized remote electronic access or alteration and to prevent the disclosure or modification of those portions of government records that are prohibited by law from public access.

(c) All fees shall be paid [in] by the public officer receiving or collecting the same to the state director of finance, the county director of finance, or to the agency or department by which the officer is employed, as government realizations; provided that fees collected by the public utilities commission pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the public utilities commission special fund established under section 269-33.

(d) The director of the office of information practices shall be responsible for the administration of this part as provided in section 92F-42.

(e) For the purposes of this part, "agency" and "government record" have the same meaning as defined in section 92F-3."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.