Hawaii-2024-SB2628-Introduced

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that for more than one hundred seventy-five years, sheriffs have carried out critical law enforcement duties in Hawai‘i. The role of sheriff dates back to King Kamehameha III, and the title of "sheriff", along with "marshal", is well-documented. The Hawai‘i sheriff is the only law enforcement agency in the nation that was created by a monarch and the rich legacy of its deputies, and the office for which they serve, is historic and unique. Institutionally, Hawai‘i sheriffs existed before ‘Iolani Palace was built, and the deputies have participated in significant events throughout history.

The legislature further finds that in 1846, the office of the marshal was established to oversee law enforcement for all islands in the Kingdom and the marshal appointed a sheriff for each island. In 1900, the office of the marshal was replaced by the office of the high sheriff. In 1959, the structure of the office of the high sheriff was reorganized and placed under the authority of the attorney general. The office was later transferred to the judiciary and then to the department of public safety. Most recently, Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, transferred the office of the sheriff to the newly-established department of law enforcement.

The legislature further finds that the office of the sheriff provides a wide range of law enforcement services statewide. Its mission is to preserve the peace by protecting all persons and property within the State. The office provides primary law enforcement services for the Honolulu International Airport and the surrounding industrial area. Deputy sheriffs respond to emergency calls for service in the central Honolulu Civic Center where state properties are intermixed with the city and county of Honolulu. Deputies participate in federal task force operations statewide, and provide protective details to the governor, lieutenant governor, and, upon request, national and international dignitaries. Deputy sheriffs are vested with the authority of a police officer and enforce the Hawaii Revised Statutes. There are approximately three hundred sheriffs, each of whom completes law enforcement training, carries a firearm, and takes an oath of office.

The legislature considers it important to protect the distinctive and culturally significant role that the Hawai‘i sheriffs hold in the unique history of the State, and to recognize the work of the sheriffs and appropriately name the department that they represent.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Rename the department of law enforcement to the "department of the state sheriff";

(2) Rename the director of the department, who is appointed by the governor, to "state sheriff";

(3) Rename the two deputy directors, who are appointed by the state sheriff, to the "undersheriff of law enforcement" and "undersheriff of administration"; and

(4) Require the state sheriff to designate a law enforcement officer to be the assistant sheriff to the undersheriff of law enforcement.

SECTION 2. Section 76-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The civil service to which this chapter applies shall comprise all positions in the State now existing or hereafter established and embrace all personal services performed for the State, except the following:

(1) Commissioned and enlisted personnel of the Hawaii National Guard as such, and positions in the Hawaii National Guard that are required by state or federal laws or regulations or orders of the National Guard to be filled from those commissioned or enlisted personnel;

(2) Positions filled by persons employed by contract where the director of human resources development has certified that the service is special or unique or is essential to the public interest and that, because of circumstances surrounding its fulfillment, personnel to perform the service cannot be obtained through normal civil service recruitment procedures. Any such contract may be for any period not exceeding one year;

(3) Positions that must be filled without delay to comply with a court order or decree if the director determines that recruitment through normal recruitment civil service procedures would result in delay or noncompliance, such as the Felix-Cayetano consent decree;

(4) Positions filled by the legislature or by either house or any committee thereof;

(5) Employees in the office of the governor and office of the lieutenant governor, and household employees at Washington Place;

(6) Positions filled by popular vote;

(7) Department heads, officers, and members of any board, commission, or other state agency whose appointments are made by the governor or are required by law to be confirmed by the senate;

(8) Judges, referees, receivers, masters, jurors, notaries public, land court examiners, court commissioners, and attorneys appointed by a state court for a special temporary service;

(9) One bailiff for the chief justice of the supreme court who shall have the powers and duties of a court officer and bailiff under section 606-14; one secretary or clerk for each justice of the supreme court, each judge of the intermediate appellate court, and each judge of the circuit court; one secretary for the judicial council; one deputy administrative director of the courts; three law clerks for the chief justice of the supreme court, two law clerks for each associate justice of the supreme court and each judge of the intermediate appellate court, one law clerk for each judge of the circuit court, two additional law clerks for the civil administrative judge of the circuit court of the first circuit, two additional law clerks for the criminal administrative judge of the circuit court of the first circuit, one additional law clerk for the senior judge of the family court of the first circuit, two additional law clerks for the civil motions judge of the circuit court of the first circuit, two additional law clerks for the criminal motions judge of the circuit court of the first circuit, and two law clerks for the administrative judge of the district court of the first circuit; and one private secretary for the administrative director of the courts, the deputy administrative director of the courts, each department head, each deputy or first assistant, and each additional deputy, or assistant deputy, or assistant defined in paragraph (16);

(10) First deputy and deputy attorneys general, the administrative services manager of the department of the attorney general, one secretary for the administrative services manager, an administrator and any support staff for the criminal and juvenile justice resources coordination functions, and law clerks;

(11) (A) Teachers, principals, vice-principals, complex area superintendents, deputy and assistant superintendents, other certificated personnel, no more than twenty noncertificated administrative, professional, and technical personnel not engaged in instructional work;

(B) Effective July 1, 2003, teaching assistants, educational assistants, bilingual/bicultural school-home assistants, school psychologists, psychological examiners, speech pathologists, athletic health care trainers, alternative school work study assistants, alternative school educational/supportive services specialists, alternative school project coordinators, and communications aides in the department of education;

(D) Members of the faculty of the [~~University~~] university of Hawaii, including research workers, extension agents, personnel engaged in instructional work, and administrative, professional, and technical personnel of the university;

(12) Employees engaged in special, research, or demonstration projects approved by the governor;

(13) (A) Positions filled by inmates, patients of state institutions, persons with severe physical or mental disabilities participating in the work experience training programs;

(B) Positions filled with students in accordance with guidelines for established state employment programs; and

(C) Positions that provide work experience training or temporary public service employment that are filled by persons entering the workforce or persons transitioning into other careers under programs such as the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as amended, or the Senior Community Service Employment Program of the Employment and Training Administration of the United States Department of Labor, or under other similar state programs;

(14) A custodian or guide at Iolani Palace, the Royal Mausoleum, and Hulihee Palace;

(15) Positions filled by persons employed on a fee, contract, or piecework basis, who may lawfully perform their duties concurrently with their private business or profession or other private employment and whose duties require only a portion of their time, if it is impracticable to ascertain or anticipate the portion of time to be devoted to the service of the State;

(16) Positions of first deputies or first assistants of each department head appointed under or in the manner provided in section 6, article V, of the Hawaii State Constitution; three additional deputies or assistants either in charge of the highways, harbors, and airports divisions or other functions within the department of transportation as may be assigned by the director of transportation, with the approval of the governor; one additional deputy in the department of human services either in charge of welfare or other functions within the department as may be assigned by the director of human services; four additional deputies in the department of health, each in charge of one of the following: behavioral health, environmental health, hospitals, and health resources administration, including other functions within the department as may be assigned by the director of health, with the approval of the governor; two additional [~~deputies~~] undersheriffs in charge of the law enforcement programs, administration, or other functions within the department of [~~law enforcement~~] the state sheriff as may be assigned by the [~~director of law enforcement,~~] state sheriff, with the approval of the governor; three additional deputies each in charge of the correctional institutions, rehabilitation services and programs, and administration or other functions within the department of corrections and rehabilitation as may be assigned by the director of corrections and rehabilitation, with the approval of the governor; an administrative assistant to the state librarian; and an administrative assistant to the superintendent of education;

(17) Positions specifically exempted from this part by any other law; provided that:

(A) Any exemption created after July 1, 2014, shall expire three years after its enactment unless affirmatively extended by an act of the legislature; and

(B) All of the positions defined by paragraph (9) shall be included in the position classification plan;

(18) Positions in the state foster grandparent program and positions for temporary employment of senior citizens in occupations in which there is a severe personnel shortage or in special projects;

(19) Household employees at the official residence of the president of the [~~University~~] university of Hawaii;

(20) Employees in the department of education engaged in the supervision of students during meal periods in the distribution, collection, and counting of meal tickets, and in the cleaning of classrooms after school hours on a less than half-time basis;

(21) Employees hired under the tenant hire program of the Hawaii public housing authority; provided that not more than twenty-six per cent of the authority's workforce in any housing project maintained or operated by the authority shall be hired under the tenant hire program;

(22) Positions of the federally funded expanded food and nutrition program of the [~~University~~] university of Hawaii that require the hiring of nutrition program assistants who live in the areas they serve;

(23) Positions filled by persons with severe disabilities who are certified by the state vocational rehabilitation office that they are able to perform safely the duties of the positions;

(24) The sheriff;

(25) A gender and other fairness coordinator hired by the judiciary;

(26) Positions in the Hawaii National Guard youth and adult education programs;

(27) In the state energy office in the department of business, economic development, and tourism, all energy program managers, energy program specialists, energy program assistants, and energy analysts;

(28) Administrative appeals hearing officers in the department of human services;

(29) In the Med-QUEST division of the department of human services, the division administrator, finance officer, health care services branch administrator, medical director, and clinical standards administrator;

(30) In the director's office of the department of human services, the enterprise officer, information security and privacy compliance officer, security and privacy compliance engineer, security and privacy compliance analyst, information technology implementation manager, assistant information technology implementation manager, resource manager, community/project development director, policy director, special assistant to the director, and limited English proficiency project manager/coordinator;

(31) The Alzheimer's disease and related dementia services coordinator in the executive office on aging;

(32) In the Hawaii emergency management agency, the executive officer, public information officer, civil defense administrative officer, branch chiefs, and emergency operations center state warning point personnel; provided that, for state warning point personnel, the director shall determine that recruitment through normal civil service recruitment procedures would result in delay or noncompliance ;

(33) The executive director and seven full-time administrative positions of the school facilities authority;

(34) Positions in the Mauna Kea stewardship and oversight authority;

(35) In the office of homeland security of the department of [~~law enforcement,~~] the state sheriff, the statewide interoperable communications coordinator; and

(36) In the social services division of the department of human services, the business technology analyst.

The director shall determine the applicability of this section to specific positions.

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the civil service status of any incumbent as it existed on July 1, 1955."

SECTION 3. Section 128A-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by repealing the definition of "director".

["~~"Director" means the director of law enforcement.~~"]

SECTION 4. Section 353C-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§353C-1 Definitions. Whenever used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Department" means the department of [~~law enforcement.~~] the state sheriff.

[~~"Director" means the director of law enforcement.~~]"

SECTION 5. Section 353C-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§353C-3 [~~Deputy directors;~~] Undersheriffs; assistant sheriff; appointment[.] and designation. (a) The [~~director~~] state sheriff shall appoint, without regard to chapter 76, two [~~deputy directors~~] undersheriffs to serve at the [~~director's~~] state sheriff's pleasure. Unless otherwise assigned by the [~~director,~~] state sheriff, one [~~deputy director~~] undersheriff shall oversee the law enforcement programs of the department, and one [~~deputy director~~] undersheriff shall oversee administration of the department.

(b) The state sheriff shall designate a law enforcement officer to be the assistant sheriff to the undersheriff overseeing the law enforcement programs of the department."

SECTION 6. (a) Sections 23-12, 26-4, 26-14.6, 26-14.8, 26-52, 28-151, 78-52, 88-21, 128A-3, 128A-12, 128B-1, 134-81, 139-1, 139-7, 200-2, 205A-62, 291-31.5, 291E-6.5, 328-16, 329-1, 329-11, 329-18, 329-20, 329-23, 329-31, 329-32, 329-33, 329-34, 329-35, 329-36, 329-37, 329-51, 329-54, 329-55, 329-57, 329-58, 329-61, 329-63, 329-64, 329-66, 329-67, 329-68, 329-71, 329-72, 329-75, 334D-5, 350-1.1, 353C-4, 353C-5, 353C-6, 353C-13, 378-2.5, 386-181, 651-1, 707-700, 801G-1, 844D-38, and 846-2.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and Act 67, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, are amended by substituting the phrase "department of the state sheriff", or similar term, wherever the phrase "department of law enforcement", or similar term, appears, as the context requires.

(b) Sections 128A-3, 128A-4, 128A-6, 128A-13, 353C-4, 353C-5, 353C-8.5, and 353C-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are amended by substituting the phrase "state sheriff", or similar term, wherever the phrase "director", or similar term, appears, as the context requires.

(c) Sections 26.14.8, 76-16, 84-18, 88-21, 128A-13, 128B‑1, 134C-2, 139-1, 139-2, 200-27, 226-64, 291-31.5, 329-51, 329‑59, 329-69, 346-382, 353C-2, 577E-3, 587A-4, 614-2, 651‑1, and 707-700, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are amended by substituting the phrase "state sheriff", or similar term, wherever the phrase "director of law enforcement", or similar term, appears, as the context requires.

(d) Sections 26-14.8 and 128A-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by substituting the phrase "undersheriff", or similar term, wherever the phrase "deputy director" or similar term, appears, as the context requires.

(e) Sections 501-154, 603-29, 604-6.2, 607-4, 607-8, 633‑8, 634-11, 634-12, 634-22, 634-29, 652-1.5, 652-2, 652-2.5, 652-2.6, 654-2, 666-11, and 666-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are amended by substituting the phrase "department of the state sheriff's", or similar term, wherever the phrase "department of law enforcement's", or similar term, appears.

SECTION 7. All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the department of law enforcement are transferred to the department of the state sheriff.

All officers and employees whose functions are transferred by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer, subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.

No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and compensation laws.

An officer or employee of the State who does not have tenure and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position as a consequence of this Act shall become a civil service employee without the loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits or privileges and without the necessity of examination; provided that such officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed.

If an office or position held by an officer or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and classification and shall be transferred to some other office or position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the department or the governor.

SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2628
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII