Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and the state will try to reach an agreement to ensure the preservation of Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility documents that might be relevant to a pending lawsuit by the ACLU against state officials.

U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright met with the lawyers and made no finding that the state did anything wrong, but both sides agreed to certain measures to preserve the documents, ACLU Hawai'i legal director Lois Perrin said.

"Our objective was to preserve the evidence, and we believe these measures will protect the integrity of the documents, so we're pleased," she said.

First Deputy Attorney General Lisa Ginoza said she was also pleased the judge did not find any wrongdoing, a finding which was important to the state. She said she's "very optimistic" that an agreement can be reached because no one believes the documents should be jeopardized.

The ACLU is suing state officials on behalf of three wards at the Kailua facility, alleging they have been abused because they are gay or thought to be gay. The civil rights group filed a request Tuesday asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent what the group said was an attempt to review the documents and remove or alter them.

Ginoza disputed the allegations and said the group's assertions might have been based on a "misperception."

Still pending is an ACLU request for an injunction to halt any harassment of the three wards.

Seabright is scheduled to hear that request Nov. 21.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.