Kaua‘i County Council members received 172 letters about a curbside recycling proposal last Wednesday, but the public had no easy way to see what those letters said. Residents who want to review the written testimony generally have to file a records request instead of opening a meeting packet online.
According to Honolulu Civil Beat, Kaua‘i is the only county council in Hawai‘i that does not routinely post written testimony online. Honolulu, Maui and Hawai‘i counties, along with the state Legislature, publish testimony for the public to review.
The council’s public notices provide several ways to submit testimony, including email, mail and hand delivery, as outlined in a Kaua‘i County Council agenda. The transparency gap comes afterward: the system is designed to collect public input, but not necessarily to let residents compare that input before the council takes action.
That matters because written testimony can show who is engaged on an issue, whether organized groups are involved and what arguments the council is receiving before a vote. It also gives other residents a chance to respond to earlier comments instead of walking into a meeting with only the agenda in hand.
Transparency advocates told Honolulu Civil Beat that written testimony should be easily accessible. Deputy Clerk Lyndon Yoshioka said electronically submitted testimony is automatically sent to council members, while mailed or hand-delivered testimony is distributed during meetings; he also said the council will consider posting testimony online.
Why The Sunshine Law Question Turns On Timing
Hawai‘i’s Sunshine Law defines a board packet as documents compiled by a board and distributed to members before a meeting for use at that meeting. The Office of Information Practices says those packets must be made available for public inspection, with electronic access accommodated and the packet posted online as soon as practicable.
The statute also says a board is not required to create a packet and does not prohibit distributing public testimony to members before a meeting. That creates an important distinction: testimony handed to council members during a meeting may be treated differently from testimony sent to them beforehand and compiled for use in deliberations.
The Legislature has tightened the disclosure rules in recent years. The 2024 Sunshine Law changes added an online-posting requirement for board packets, while the 2025 board-packet law moved the public-inspection deadline to three full business days before a meeting.
Under OIP’s board-packet guidance, written public testimony can be part of a packet when it is compiled and distributed to board members before a meeting. The law does not establish a separate deadline for making all testimony public, which leaves the council’s distribution practices at the center of the question.
A records request fulfilled the same day may be faster than the usual government paperwork shuffle, but it is still an extra step for residents trying to follow local decision-making. Until Kaua‘i posts testimony proactively, the island’s public will continue to know what is on the agenda without necessarily knowing who is making the case behind it.
