Department of the Attorney General

NOTICE UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

In accordance with the requirements of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), the Department of the Attorney General will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, or activities.

Employment:  Department of the Attorney General does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under title I of the ADA.

Effective Communication:  Department of the Attorney General will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in Department of the Attorney General  programs, services, and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures:  Department of the Attorney General will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities.  For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in Department of the Attorney General offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of Department of the Attorney General, should contact the office of the Department of the Attorney General, ADA coordinator: Jennifer Jones by email at [email protected] as soon as possible before the scheduled event.

The ADA does not require the Department of the Attorney General to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

Complaints that a program, service, or activity of Department of the Attorney General is not accessible to persons with disabilities should be directed of the Department of the Attorney General, ADA coordinator: Jennifer Jones by email at [email protected].

The Department of the Attorney General will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

The Department of the Attorney General wishes to ensure access to egovernment is available to all individuals.

In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual’s ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals.

This site has been designed to be compatible with a wide variety of browsers, and with assistive technologies in mind. To this end, this site conforms to W3C’s “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0”, available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/, level A. Our goal is to continue to work to make access available to all individuals, and therefore we are currently striving to reach level Double-A compatibility.

Improving access to citizens with disabilities is one of our top priorities, and any suggestions or comments are welcome.

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

This Grievance Procedure is established to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”).  It may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, activities, programs, or benefits by the Department of the Attorney General.  The State’s Personnel Policy governs employment-related complaints of disability discrimination.

The complaint should be in writing and contain information about the alleged discrimination such as name, address, phone number of complainant and location, date, and description of the problem.  Alternative means of filing complaints, such as personal interviews or a tape recording of the complaint, will be made available for persons with disabilities upon request.

The complaint should be submitted by the grievant and/or his/her designee as soon as possible but no later than 60 calendar days after the alleged violation to:

Jennifer Jones
ADA Coordinator
425 Queen Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96819

Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the complaint, Jennifer Jones or designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and the possible resolutions.  Within 15 calendar days of the meeting Jennifer Jones will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, such as large print, Braille, or audio tape.  The response will explain the position of the Department of the Attorney General and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.

If the response by Jennifer Jones or designee does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the complainant and/or his/her designee may appeal the decision within 15 calendar days after receipt of the response to the Department of the Attorney General, First Deputy Attorney General or designee.

Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the Department of the Attorney General, First Deputy Attorney General or designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions.  Within 15 calendar days after the meeting, the Department of the Attorney General, First Deputy Attorney General or designee will respond in writing, and, where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, with a final resolution of the complaint.

All documents related to complaints will be retained by the State of Hawaii, Department of the Attorney General for at least three years.