Open Meetings
HRS 92-7 — notice and an agenda six calendar days ahead, and minutes posted within forty days
Every meeting of a board is open to the public unless closed as the law allows. Anyone may submit written testimony on any agenda item, and the board also takes oral testimony.
Who handles this in Hawaii: Office of Information Practices; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Hawaii directory.
- Notice with an agenda of every item is posted on a state or county electronic calendar no less than six calendar days before the meeting; posted later, the meeting is canceled as a matter of law.
- Within those six days, items may be added only by a two thirds recorded vote, and never one of reasonably major importance affecting many people.
- Minutes record who attended, what was discussed, and each member's votes, and are posted within forty days.
- Anyone attending may record an open meeting, so long as it does not actively interfere.
The open meetings part does not apply to the judicial branch or to boards acting in an adjudicatory role.
Sources for this section (4)
- HRS 92-3 — Open meetings
- HRS 92-7 — Notice
- HRS 92-9 — Minutes
- HRS 92-6 — Judicial branch, quasi-judicial boards and investigatory functions; applicability
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Hawaii attorney.