(a) If a board finds that an imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare requires a meeting in less time than is provided for in § 92-7, the board may hold an emergency meeting; provided that:
Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 92-8
Board: means any agency, board, commission, authority, or committee of the State or its political subdivisions which is created by constitution, statute, rule, or executive order, to have supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power over specific matters and which is required to conduct meetings and to take official actions. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 92-2
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Meeting: means the convening of a board for which a quorum is required in order to make a decision or to deliberate toward a decision upon a matter over which the board has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 92-2
(1) The board states in writing the reasons for its findings;(2) Two-thirds of all members to which the board is entitled agree that the findings are correct and an emergency exists;(3) An emergency agenda and the findings are electronically posted pursuant to section 92-7(b), filed with the office of the lieutenant governor or the appropriate county clerk’s office, and posted in the board’s office; provided further that the six calendar day requirement for filing and electronic posting shall not apply; and(4) Persons requesting notification on a regular basis are contacted by postal or electronic mail or telephone as soon as practicable.(b) If an unanticipated event requires a board to take action on a matter over which it has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power, within less time than is provided for in § 92-7 to notice and convene a meeting of the board, the board may hold an emergency meeting to deliberate and decide whether and how to act in response to the unanticipated event; provided that:
(1) The board states in writing the reasons for its finding that an unanticipated event has occurred and that an emergency meeting is necessary and the attorney general concurs that the conditions necessary for an emergency meeting under this subsection exist;(2) Two-thirds of all members to which the board is entitled agree that the conditions necessary for an emergency meeting under this subsection exist;(3) The finding that an unanticipated event has occurred and that an emergency meeting is necessary and the agenda for the emergency meeting under this subsection are electronically posted pursuant to section 92-7(b), filed with the office of the lieutenant governor or the appropriate county clerk’s office, and posted in the board’s office; provided further that the six calendar day requirement for filing and electronic posting shall not apply;(4) Persons requesting notification on a regular basis are contacted by postal or electronic mail or telephone as soon as practicable; and(5) The board limits its action to only that action that must be taken on or before the date that a meeting would have been held, had the board noticed the meeting pursuant to § 92-7.(c) For purposes of this part, an “unanticipated event” means:
(1) An event which members of the board did not have sufficient advance knowledge of or reasonably could not have known about from information published by the media or information generally available in the community;(2) A deadline established by a legislative body, a court, or a federal, state, or county agency beyond the control of a board; or(3) A consequence of an event for which reasonably informed and knowledgeable board members could not have taken all necessary action.
