Leo Donofrio published
UPDATED 2:29 PM 10.02.09
The Hawaii Department of Health has reversed course. They now admit that they do - in fact – make some vital records information available to the public. This admission reverses their prior response pattern indicating that “no information” could be released.
You will recall from Part 1 of my full report that previous official responses to UIPA requests were greeted with statements – issued by DoH Director Fukino and DoH Communications Director Okubo – which indicated that state law forbid “any information” about Hawaii vital records from being released. These rigid responses were issued despite the clear applicability of Haw. Rev. Stat. 338-18(d) which requires the mandatory release of some information from vital records on file with the DoH.
