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Request for Public Criminal Case Data & Access

Request to:
Judiciary
Law used:
State of Hawaii UIPA
Status of this request:
Request awaits classification
Summary of Request
Aloha: Hope all is well. I'm following up on my last email again and trying as a new request, since we haven't heard back. It may be good to loop in the IT department at the Judiciary. I believe bulk export of records are a native function included by Sustain Technologies on the backend of eCourt Kokua. Also, the same result can be easily achieved by a simple API call to the database. Here is the content of that previous email: Sorry for the delay, and thank you so much for your thoughtful response and for the Judiciary’s continued commitment to open government. I truly appreciate the time and care you’ve taken to explain the limitations under HRS §92F and the distinction regarding non-administrative court records. I’d like to follow up with a sincere and respectful clarification. While I understand that the Judiciary is not be required to compile case-level data under UIPA, I believe the specific records I’m requesting—basic fields such as case number, charge, disposition, and sentencing outcome—are likely stored in a structured format (usually CSV or XLS) within the JIMS system or another internal database. If that’s the case, the process of generating an export (e.g., filtered by date range) may be quite straightforward—akin to running a predefined report or selecting fields and generating a CSV or Excel file. My hope is not to request anything burdensome or time-intensive, but simply to receive data that’s already maintained in the normal course of operations, and that could be shared in its existing form. I completely understand if there are limitations or vendor-related constraints on how such data is accessed or shared. But if there’s any possibility that this data is already being compiled for internal use, inter-agency coordination, or public dashboards (such as eCourt Kokua), I’d be grateful to receive whatever format is most readily retrievable. My goal in requesting this information remains to support community understanding and policy development around justice system outcomes. If there’s a way to provide even a limited extract—perhaps for a more recent timeframe, or a more basic set of fields—I’d be very happy to adjust accordingly. Finally, we are wondering how to connect to the API for the database source of eCourt Kokua. This would be an even easier alternative to our request, since we could automate retrieval from our end without the assistance of the Judiciary or its vendor. You can see our website, which currently does this same function for legislative bills and other searches: www.hipono.org Thank you again for your time, and for all you do in service to the people of Hawaiʻi.

Messages in this request

From << Name Not Public >>
Subject Records Request for Judiciary: Request for Public Criminal Case Data & Access [#1536]
Date Aug. 8, 2025, 10:07 a.m.
To Judiciary
Status Awaiting response
Attachments

Aloha, Pursuant to the public records law, I would like to request the following records in electronic format sent to my email address.
Aloha: Hope all is well. I'm following up on my last email again and trying as a new request, since we haven't heard back. It may be good to loop in the IT department at the Judiciary. I believe bulk export of records are a native function included by Sustain Technologies on the backend of eCourt Kokua. Also, the same result can be easily achieved by a simple API call to the database. Here is the content of that previous email: Sorry for the delay, and thank you so much for your thoughtful response and for the Judiciary’s continued commitment to open government. I truly appreciate the time and care you’ve taken to explain the limitations under HRS §92F and the distinction regarding non-administrative court records. I’d like to follow up with a sincere and respectful clarification. While I understand that the Judiciary is not be required to compile case-level data under UIPA, I believe the specific records I’m requesting—basic fields such as case number, charge, disposition, and sentencing outcome—are likely stored in a structured format (usually CSV or XLS) within the JIMS system or another internal database. If that’s the case, the process of generating an export (e.g., filtered by date range) may be quite straightforward—akin to running a predefined report or selecting fields and generating a CSV or Excel file. My hope is not to request anything burdensome or time-intensive, but simply to receive data that’s already maintained in the normal course of operations, and that could be shared in its existing form. I completely understand if there are limitations or vendor-related constraints on how such data is accessed or shared. But if there’s any possibility that this data is already being compiled for internal use, inter-agency coordination, or public dashboards (such as eCourt Kokua), I’d be grateful to receive whatever format is most readily retrievable. My goal in requesting this information remains to support community understanding and policy development around justice system outcomes. If there’s a way to provide even a limited extract—perhaps for a more recent timeframe, or a more basic set of fields—I’d be very happy to adjust accordingly. Finally, we are wondering how to connect to the API for the database source of eCourt Kokua. This would be an even easier alternative to our request, since we could automate retrieval from our end without the assistance of the Judiciary or its vendor. You can see our website, which currently does this same function for legislative bills and other searches: www.hipono.org Thank you again for your time, and for all you do in service to the people of Hawaiʻi.
[... Show complete request text] << Name Not Public >>
  1. 3 weeks, 6 days agoAug. 8, 2025, 10:07 a.m.: << Name Not Public >> sent a message to Judiciary.
From << Name Not Public >>
Subject Records Request for Judiciary: Request for Public Criminal Case Data & Access [#1536]
Date Aug. 26, 2025, 7:08 a.m.
To Judiciary

Aloha, My UIPA request "Request for Public Criminal Case Data & Access" (08/08/2025) was not answered in the time defined by HAR 2-71-13. Please update me on the status of my request as soon as possible. Mahalo,
  1. 1 week, 2 days agoAug. 26, 2025, 7:08 a.m.: << Name Not Public >> sent a message to Judiciary.
From PAO – Judiciary
Subject Re: Records Request for Judiciary: Request for Public Criminal Case Data & Access [#1536]
Date Aug. 29, 2025, 11:19 a.m.

Aloha << Name removed >> , We hope you are doing well. As previously stated, the data request does not fall under UIPA. However, we are still prepared to reach out to our IT staff again if you can limit the scope of the inquiry. As mentioned before, we may be able to accommodate a limited search instead but possibly still incur cost. Public API for eCourt Kokua is not available. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Sincerely, Tracy Clasen Communications & Community Relations Office Hawai‘i State Judiciary 417 South King Street Honolulu, HI 96813 Telephone (808) 539-4909 Fax: (808) 539-4801 <<email address>> and email address>> ________________________________ From: << Name removed >> << Name removed >> <<name and email address> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2025 7:08 AM To: PAO < <name and email address> > Subject: Records Request for Judiciary: Request for Public Criminal Case Data & Access [#1536] [You don't often get email from <<email address>> Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdenti... ] Aloha, My UIPA request "Request for Public Criminal Case Data & Access" (08/08/2025) was not answered in the time defined by HAR 2-71-13. Please update me on the status of my request as soon as possible. Mahalo,
  1. 6 days, 9 hours agoAug. 29, 2025, 11:19 a.m.: Received an email from Judiciary.