Procedures trip up
isle panels
Burial councils have trouble
with meeting announcements
HILO >> A move by officials with the state's five burial councils to use the Internet has run afoul of the state Sunshine Law.
The law, which requires most state boards and commissions to hold open meetings except in special circumstances, also requires them to file notices of their meetings with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
But a review by the Lieutenant Governor's Office shows that none of the burial councils filed notices of their monthly meetings this year until last month, when concerns were raised about lack of notice from the Big Island council.
Peter Young, director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which administers the burial councils, explained that a staff member had been e-mailing the notices to the lieutenant governor and posting them on the department's Web site.
E-mailing meeting notices is OK, but the Lieutenant Governor's Office says it never received the notices.
All employees were trained on the Sunshine Law last year, and past practice had been to hand-deliver notices to the Lieutenant Governor's Office or to fax them so that a paper copy was available at that office, Young said.
Young said he has started new procedures requiring that paper copies be filed and also requiring officials to sign off on a second paper showing that the procedure was followed.
The months of failure to follow the law will probably have no effect on actions by the burial councils. The Sunshine Law requires anyone who objects to file suit within 90 days and to prove that the violation was willful.
Young, state Historic Preservation Division head Holly McEldowny and Big Island Burial Council Chairwoman Geri Bell all said they had received no complaints from the public.
