Comm No 0001.08 - CC Response - Serve Legislative and Executive Branches

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Honorable Douglass Shipman Adams Chairman and Members of the Hawai'i County Charter Commission October 1, 2018 Page 2 of 5 11. Office of the Corporation Counsel A. Chief Legal Advisor and Legal Representative For almost 50 years, the Corporation Counsel has been the Chief legal advisor and legal representative of the Council, County and its officers and employees. Section 6 of the Charter states: The corporation counsel shall be appointed by the mayor, confirmed by the council and may be removed by the mayor with the approval of the council. The corporation counsel shall be an attorney licensed to practice and in good standing before the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii. Section 6-5.3 of the Charter further states: The corporation counsel shall be the chief legal advisor and legal representative of all county agencies, the council and all officers and employees in matters related to their official powers and duties. The corporation counsel shall represent the county in all civil legal proceedings and shall perform all other services incident to the office as may be required by law. The corporation counsel shall, however, be prohibited from representing any elected officer in impeachment proceedings. The language of the current Charter provision, that explicitly states that the Corporation Counsel also advise and represent "all county agencies, the council and all officers and employees," is similar to the language in the Hawai'i Revised Statutes ("HRS"), that sets for the duties and responsibilities of the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii. Under Section 26-7, HRS, the Attorney General administers and renders "state legal services, including furnishing of written opinions to the governor, legislature, and such state departments and officers as the governor may direct," and "represent[s] the State in all civil actions in which the State is a party." From a governmental organizational perspective, the public interest would be best served by determining the lawfulness of a particular course of action taken by the officers and employees of the governmental entity. There is also a public benefit in having a legal department, representing the interest of the governmental entity, which would include its different branches, departments and officers and employees, provide one legal opinion with its varying courses of action, if any. The best way to protect the interest of the public would be to have one legal department provide its legal opinion based on legal research, analysis and proposed courses of actions.