Opinion Letter Summary

Opinion Letter No. 94-25
December 14, 1994
PSD’s Inmate Search Policy Accessible to Inmate

An inmate at the Oahu Community Correctional Facility must be permitted to inspect and copy a State
Department of Public Safety policy relating to inmate searches, despite the fact that this policy is not
an administrative rule adopted under chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The OIP found that disclosure of the policy would not result in the frustration of a legitimate government function because the U.S. Bureau of Prisons policy is to provide access to policies regarding inmate searches under the provisions of the federal Freedom of Information Act. Under the circumstances, the OIP concluded that disclosure of the State’s policy on inmate searches would not jeopardize the security of State prisons or risk the circumvention of statutes and regulations concerning the control of inmates.

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