He also ruled that there is no compelling reason to withhold audiotapes of meetings in which Dobelle's job performance was discussed.

University of Hawai'i spokeswoman Carolyn Tanaka said last night that she had not yet seen Kondo's letter, but the university planned to release all the requested documents "as soon as possible."

"We've said all along that we fully intend to comply," she said.

The university on Wednesday released documents relating to Dobelle's dismissal but withheld the minutes and audiotapes, saying they were still in draft form and not formally approved.

The minutes in question were from executive sessions, including the June 15 meeting when Dobelle was fired. The minutes could be important for what they reveal about reasons for the initial "for cause" firing of Dobelle.

Last week, the board rescinded that firing and issued a joint statement with Dobelle that said there was no wrongdoing on either side. As part of that agreement, Dobelle will resign as university president next Saturday.

Kondo said last night there is no provision in the state sunshine law that allows minutes to be withheld because they are in draft form or have not been approved by the board.

"The statute contains no requirement that the minutes be final," he said.

"Moreover, we have previously opined that when the 'final' or approved minutes are not available 30 days after the meeting, the 'draft' minutes or the notes that will be used to prepare the minutes must be made available to the public," he wrote in the letter addressed to UH attorney Presley Pang and made available to Honolulu news organizations.

Although state law allows board minutes of executive sessions to be kept secret to protect the privacy of a person being evaluated, Dobelle's waiver of confidentiality makes that issue moot, Kondo said.

"Accordingly, the board is no longer authorized to deny access to the records," he said.

The only exceptions to the ruling are parts of the meeting that involve the board's attorney-client privilege, he said.

Kondo also said the audiotapes of the meetings are clearly government records subject to the state's Uniform Information Practices Act. "They should be disclosed, minus the attorney-client communications, as soon as reasonably possible," he wrote.