HB2205

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to amend the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to facilitate the administration of the department of law enforcement by:

(1) Providing that the department shall be headed by a sheriff, who shall be elected at a special nonpartisan election held every four years in conjunction with a general election;

(2) Applying to the sheriff the same constitutional impeachment and removal provisions that apply to the governor and lieutenant governor;

(3) Providing that vacancies shall be filled as provided by law; and

(4) Removing the department from the supervision of the governor.

SECTION 2. Article III, section 19, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"IMPEACHMENT

Section 19. The governor [~~and~~], lieutenant governor, sheriff, and any appointive officer for whose removal the consent of the senate is required, may be removed from office upon conviction of impeachment for such causes as may be provided by law.

The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment of the governor [~~and~~], lieutenant governor, and sheriff, and the senate the sole power to try such impeachments, and no such officer shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the senate. When sitting for that purpose, the members of the senate shall be on oath or affirmation and the chief justice shall preside. Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, the legislature may provide for the manner and procedure of removal by impeachment of such officers.

The legislature shall by law provide for the manner and procedure of removal by impeachment of the appointive officers.

Judgments in cases of impeachment shall not extend beyond removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the State; but the person convicted may nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment as provided by law."

SECTION 3. Article V, section 6, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

AND DEPARTMENTS

Section 6. All executive and administrative offices, departments and instrumentalities of the state government and their respective powers and duties shall be allocated by law among and within not more than twenty principal departments in such a manner as to group the same according to common purposes and related functions. Temporary commissions or agencies for special purposes may be established by law and need not be allocated within a principal department.

Each principal department, except the department of law enforcement, shall be under the supervision of the governor [~~and,~~]. Further, unless otherwise provided in this constitution or by law, each principal department shall be headed by a single executive. [~~Such~~] Each single executive shall be nominated and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appointed by the governor[~~. That person~~], except as otherwise provided for in this section. Each appointed executive shall hold office for a term to expire at the end of the term for which the governor was elected, unless sooner removed by the governor; except that the removal of the chief legal officer of the State shall be subject to the advice and consent of the senate.

The department of law enforcement shall be headed by a single executive, a sheriff, who shall meet the same minimum qualifications required of the governor. The sheriff shall be elected as provided by law; provided that any election contest shall be nonpartisan. The term of office of the sheriff shall begin at noon on the first Monday in December next following the sheriff's election and end at noon on the first Monday in December, four years thereafter; provided that the term of office of the first sheriff shall begin on the first Monday in December 2026. No person shall be elected as sheriff for more than two consecutive full terms. The sheriff shall not hold any other office or employment of profit under the State or the United States during the sheriff's term of office. In the event of the impeachment of the sheriff, the sheriff shall not exercise the powers of the applicable office until acquitted. Vacancies in the office of sheriff shall be filled as provided by law.

Except as otherwise provided in this constitution, whenever a board, commission or other body shall be the head of a principal department of the state government, the members thereof shall be nominated and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appointed by the governor. The term of office and removal of such members shall be as provided by law. Such board, commission or other body may appoint a principal executive officer who, when authorized by law, may be an ex officio, voting member thereof, and who may be removed by a majority vote of the members appointed by the governor.

The governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint all officers for whose election or appointment provision is not otherwise provided for by this constitution or by law. If the manner of removal of an officer is not prescribed in this constitution, removal shall be as provided by law.

When the senate is not in session and a vacancy occurs in any office, appointment to which requires the confirmation of the senate, the governor may fill the office by granting a commission which shall expire, unless such appointment is confirmed, at the end of the next session of the senate. The person so appointed shall not be eligible for another interim appointment to such office if the appointment failed to be confirmed by the senate.

No person who has been nominated for appointment to any office and whose appointment has not received the consent of the senate shall be eligible to an interim appointment thereafter to such office.

Every officer appointed under the provisions of this section shall be a citizen of the United States and shall have been a resident of this State for at least one year immediately preceding that person's appointment, except that this residency requirement shall not apply to the president of the University of Hawaii."

SECTION 4. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to change the administration of the department of law enforcement by:

(1) Providing that the department shall be headed by a sheriff, who shall be elected at a special nonpartisan election held every four years in conjunction with a general election;

(2) Applying to the sheriff the same constitutional impeachment and removal provisions that apply to the governor and lieutenant governor;

(3) Providing that vacancies shall be filled as provided by law; and

(4) Removing the department from the supervision of the governor?"

SECTION 5. Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New constitutional material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2205
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII