2022 Hawaii County Charter - Laserfiche WebLink

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FOREWORD In 1963, the legislature of the State of Hawai‘i enacted Act 73 enabling the counties of the State of Hawai‘i to establish charter commissions to study their existing governments and to recommend and draft charters upon determination that a charter form of government was fit and desirable. Accordingly, the County of Hawai‘i created a charter commission whose study and work began in 1964. The initial charter, which became effective on January 2, 1969, served as the “constitution” of the government of the County of Hawai‘i, and provided the basic framework for its organization and operation. It also provided for the orderly transition to the new form of government and for amendments or revisions by ordinance or petition and by mandatory review every ten years. The first mandatory charter review was conducted in 1979. At a special election held on November 3, 1979, ten of the thirteen proposed charter amendments were adopted by the Hawai‘i County electorate. The second mandatory charter review was conducted in 1990. The charter commission proposed eighteen charter amendments. At the general election on November 6, 1990, fifteen of the eighteen proposed charter amendments were adopted by Hawai‘i County voters. The third mandatory charter review, conducted in 2000, resulted in sixteen proposed charter amendments. Voters adopted all sixteen proposed charter amendments during the general election held on November 7, 2000. The fourth mandatory charter review, conducted in 2010, resulted in nineteen proposed charter amendments. Voters adopted eighteen of the nineteen proposed charter amendments during the general election held on November 2, 2010. The most recent charter review, as conducted by the 2020 Charter Commission, resulted in sixteen proposed charter amendments. On November 3, 2020, the electorate approved fourteen of the sixteen proposed charter amendments. This edition incorporates the above series of amendments as well as additional changes proposed by the county council and adopted by Hawai‘i County voters during general elections held during the interim periods between charter reviews, including the three amendments that were approved by the voters at the 2022 General Election. This 2022 edition of the charter, therefore, replaces all previous editions and contains all those charter provisions in effect at the time of its publication. i