Ā§92-2.5 Ā Permitted interactions ofmembers. Ā (a)Ā  Two members of a board may discuss between themselvesmatters relating to official board business to enable them to perform theirduties faithfully, as long as no commitment to vote is made or sought and thetwo members do not constitute a quorum of their board.

(b)Ā  Two or more members of a board, but lessthan the number of members which would constitute a quorum for the board, maybe assigned to:

(1)Ā  Investigate a matter relating to the officialbusiness of their board; provided that:

(A)Ā  The scope of the investigation and thescope of each member's authority are defined at a meeting of the board;

(B)Ā  All resulting findings and recommendationsare presented to the board at a meeting of the board; and

(C)Ā  Deliberation and decisionmaking on thematter investigated, if any, occurs only at a duly noticed meeting of the boardheld subsequent to the meeting at which the findings and recommendations of theinvestigation were presented to the board; or

(2)Ā  Present, discuss, or negotiate any position whichthe board has adopted at a meeting of the board; provided that the assignmentis made and the scope of each member's authority is defined at a meeting of theboard prior to the presentation, discussion or negotiation.

(c)Ā  Discussions between two or more members ofa board, but less than the number of members which would constitute a quorumfor the board, concerning the selection of the board's officers may beconducted in private without limitation or subsequent reporting.

(d)Ā  Discussions between the governor and oneor more members of a board may be conducted in private without limitation orsubsequent reporting; provided that the discussion does not relate to a matterover which a board is exercising its adjudicatory function.

(e)Ā  Discussions between two or more members ofa board and the head of a department to which the board is administrativelyassigned may be conducted in private without limitation; provided that thediscussion is limited to matters specified in section 26-35.

(f)Ā  Communications, interactions, discussions,investigations, and presentations described in this section are not meetingsfor purposes of this part. [L 1996, c 267, Ā§2; am L 2005, c 84, Ā§1]

 

Law Journals and Reviews

 

Ā  Hawai`i's Sunshine Law Compliance Criteria.Ā  26 UH L. Rev.21.

 

Case Notes

 

Ā  Although subsection (a) does not expressly preclude citycounsel members from engaging in serial one-on-one conversations, when councilmembers engaged in a series of one-on-one conversations relating to aparticular item of council business, under Ā§92-5(b), the spirit of the openmeeting requirement was circumvented and the strong policy of having publicbodies deliberate and decide its business in view of the public was thwarted andfrustrated.Ā  117 H. 1 (App.), 175 P.3d 111.