Hawaii does a good job making the state auditor’s reports available to the public, according to the State Integrity Investigation.

Hawaii received an overall A, or 92 percent, grade for Internal Auditing. That placed the state 22nd. Tied for first place were Mississippi and Texas. At the bottom was Nevada.

Hawaii did so well in large part because of the independence and sweeping authority of the auditor to initiate investigations. It got a 100-percent score for its law establishing the auditor position.

The auditor’s reports are posted online within 24 hours after of being released by the office. The office also hands out hard copies for free. But the auditor has drawn some criticism for not releasing all the documents it collects during its investigations.

Overall, the State Integrity Investigation ranked Hawaii 10th after Civil Beat reporters researched 330 “Corruption Risk Indicators” across 14 categories of government. (Click here to learn more about the methodology used for the project.)

Bottom line: For the most part, the auditor’s reports are fully public and accessible online. But audit documents are sometimes withheld.

Here’s the basis for the 87-percent grade that contributed to the overall 92 percent score for Internal Auditing. It’s your turn to evaluate whether Civil Beat got it right and to share what you think should be done to improve the situation. Share your comments at the bottom of this story.

Here’s the third question the State Integrity Investigation asked regarding Internal Auditing.

Can citizens access reports of the supreme audit institution?

Overall score: 87%

Here are the criteria Civil Beat used to answer that question and what Civil Beat found.

1. In law, citizens can access reports of the audit agency.

Notes: The public can access all government records unless the state law restricts it. The state auditor’s “working papers” are considered confidential and exempt under government records disclosure law.

Sources: Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 92F Uniform Information Practices Act, Part II. Freedom of Information, Chapter 92F-11 Affirmative agency disclosure responsibilities, §92F-12 Disclosure required, §92-F-13 Government records; exceptions to the general rule. Visit http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol02_Ch0046-0115/HRS0092F/HRS_0092F-0011.htm, http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol02_Ch0046-0115/HRS0092F/HRS_0092F-0012.htm, http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol02_Ch0046-0115/HRS0092F/HRS_0092F-0013.htm for more details.

Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 23 Auditor, Part I. Office of the Auditor Proper, §23-9.5 Confidentiality. Visit http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol01_Ch0001-0042F/HRS0023/HRS_0023-0009_0005.htm for details.

Score: 100%

Scoring criteria: These are the scoring criteria for this question.
Yes: A YES score is earned if all audit reports are available to the general public.
No: A NO score is earned if any audit reports are not publicly available. This may include reports made exclusively to the legislature or the executive, which those bodies may choose not to distribute.

2. In practice, citizens can access audit reports within a reasonable time period.

Notes: When the audit reports are officially released by the office, the governor and state Legislature receive copies, according to state Auditor Marion Higa. Then 24 hours later the report will be posted on the state auditor’s website, according to Higa. The state audits are available online, according to political blogger Ian Lind. The state’s historic preservation office audit was announced one day and available the next morning online, according to Lind. All audits can be accessed on the State Auditor’s website: http://hawaii.gov/auditor/SearchReports.html.

Sources:

• Marion Higa, state auditor, 9/6/11, telephone interview.

• iLind.net, Ian Lind, 12/20/02, “December 20, 2002 – Friday”

• Link to audit reports: http://hawaii.gov/auditor/SearchReports.html

Score: 100%

Scoring criteria: These are the scoring criteria for this question.
Very Strong: Reports are available online, or records can be obtained within two days. Reports are uniformly available; there are no delays for politically sensitive information.
Fair: Reports take around two weeks to obtain. Some delays may be experienced.
Very Weak: Reports take more than a month to acquire. In some cases, most reports may be available sooner, but there may be persistent delays in obtaining politically sensitive records.

3. In practice, citizens can access the audit reports at a reasonable cost.

Notes: The audit reports are free online. Hard copies are also free as long as it is “reasonable,” according to state Auditor Marion Higa. For example, a request for 100 copies would be unreasonable, she said.

Sources:

• Marion Higa, state auditor, 9/6/11, telephone interview.

• iLind.net, Ian Lind, 12/20/02, “December 20, 2002 – Friday”

Score: 100%

Scoring criteria: These are the scoring criteria for this question.
Very Strong: Reports are free to all citizens, or available for the cost of photocopying. Reports can be obtained at little cost, such as by mail or online.
Fair: Reports impose a financial burden on citizens, journalists or CSOs. Retrieving reports may require a visit to a specific office, such as the state capitol.
Very Weak: Retrieving reports imposes a major financial burden on citizens. Report costs are prohibitive to most citizens, journalists, or CSOs trying to access this information.

4. In practice, audit reports are accessible to the public online in a meaningful and accessible manner.

Notes: The state audit reports are accessible online as electronic pdf documents. The information is typed, detailed and several pages long. Hard copies may also be obtained from the office. For instance, the audit report of the procurement card program is 50-pages long and available on the state auditor’s website as a pdf document, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. However, some audit documents were withheld from public disclosure such as management letter and advisory reports containing confidential information, according to political blogger Ian Lind.

Sources:

• iLind.net, Ian Lind, 6/6/11, “State Auditor quietly withholds some audit documents from disclosure”

• Honolulu Civil Beat, Noelle Chun, 6/8/10, “UPDATE: New Auditor’s Report Finds Inefficiencies in State’s pCard Program”

Auditor’s Response: State auditor Marion Higa, in a telephone interview with Civil Beat on April 18, 2012 said her office does not always disclose all of its working papers because oftentimes, “People are willing to talk to us only if we can give them pretty good assurance that their papers will be held confidentially.”

Score: 50%

Scoring criteria: These are the scoring criteria for this question.

Very Strong: The information is available online and is as complete as possible, including any raw or meta data necessary to fully understand how the final information was generated. The information is primary source data, is made available in real-time or within a matter of weeks, is available to the public via an Application Programming Interface (API), and is machine readable. Anyone can access the information at any time, and there is no cost burden on the public in downloading or accessing the information. The information is archived and/or available online in perpetuity, and there are no licensing restrictions limiting its use.

Fair: The information is available online and is generally accessible, but some exceptions exist. Some information may not be machine readable (for example, locked in PDF format) and third-party programs or software may be required to process and use the information once it is downloaded. Certain licensing restrictions may impose a burden on sharing the information and/or analysis of the information.

Very Weak: The information is not available online, or is available online in such a format as to render it useless for the majority of the public. Special skills and/or software are required to process the information, and the information is not machine readable and must be manually “scraped” in order to analyze it in bulk. Significant cost and/or licensing barriers pose major hurdles in the public accessing or using the information.