NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Pursuant to Chapters 91 and 92 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, notice is hereby given that the Board of Ethics ("Board"), County of Maui, will hold a public hearing for the purpose of adopting revisions to the rules relating to the administration, practice and procedure of the Board given the hiring of an Executive Director/Legal Counsel and the hiring of independent staff.

The hearing will be held at the Planning Department conference room at the Kalana Pakui Bldg at 250 S. High Street, Kalana Pakui Bldg., Wailuku, Hawaii 96793, on October 22, 2025, 12:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as those interested may be heard. Parties may attend the meeting virtually via computer or mobile device using Microsoft TEAMS. Here is the Microsoft TEAMS link to join virtually, https://aka.ms/join-a-meeting Meeting ID: 267 711 310 634 3 Passcode: KD7SL6Lr

All interested persons may present their views on the subject orally or in writing. Written testimonies will be received up to and including the date and time of hearing and should be addressed to Maui County Board of Ethics, 200 South High Street, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii 96793, or emailed to boardofethics@co.maui.hi.us, or presented in person at the time of the public hearing.

The proposed amendments to be adopted are summarized below.

There are forty-two proposed amendments to the existing rules of the Maui County Board of Ethics, which are summarized as follows:

Section 4-101-21 will be amended to transfer duties from the Board secretary and legal counsel to the Executive Director/Legal Counsel and board staff.

Section 04-101-22 will be amended to specify that it concerns “Public” meetings pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 92.

Section 04-101-22.1 will be added to specify the matters and subsections that are to be heard in Adjudicatory Meetings pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes §§ 92-6, 91-8, and 91-9.

Section 4-101-23 will be amended to make portions of it applicable to Adjudicatory Meetings as well as meetings being conducted in executive session.

Section 4-101-26 will be amended to reflect that only decisions on formal complaints, formal advisory opinions, and formal declaratory rulings need to be signed by at least three members of the board, providing for electronic signatures, and allowing for other documents to be signed by either the board chair or the Executive Director/Legal Counsel.

Section 04-101-30 will be amended to note the new mailing address of the Board of Ethics, remove reference to the Department of Corporation Counsel regarding board communications, remove the requirement of an “ink” signature, and remove the hard copy requirement for numerated documents filed with the board.

Section 4-101-37 will be amended to transfer duties related to receipt, retention, and withdrawal of documents from the legal counsel or board to the board staff.

Section 04-101-39 will be amended to state complainant’s obligation of confidentiality, specify possible penalties for violation of the confidentiality requirement, allow for adjudicatory meetings for hearings on complaints, and remove the last paragraph as duplicative.

Section 04-101-40(b) will be amended to more accurately reflect which board and commission members must file financial disclosure statements.

Section 04-101-43(b) will be amended to be more accurate regarding who is required to file financial disclosure statements.

Section 4-101-48 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board.

Section 4-101-51 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board and to clarify that requests for advisory opinions can only be submitted for an officer or employee’s own conduct, and requests submitted which apply to the conduct of others may be treated as complaints.

Section 4-101-52 will be amended to include the word “formal before the term “advisory opinion” to distinguish between formal and informal requests.

Section 04-101-53 will be amended to make clear that the section applies only for formal requests for advisory opinions, allow requests for advisory opinions to be heard in adjudicatory meetings, remove the section regarding advisory opinion requests by third parties, and allow the staff to dismiss the request.

Section 04-101-53.1 will be amended to simplify the circumstances when Legal Counsel shall decline to provide an informal advisory opinion, replace “legal counsel” with “Executive Director/Legal Counsel”, and make informal advisory opinions have the same effect as formal advisory opinion under the Charter.

Section 04-101-54 will be repealed in its entirety.

Section 4-101-59 will be amended by changing the title to “Filing of a Request for an Advisory Opinion” and to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board.

Section 4-101-59.1 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board and removing subsection (b).

Section 4-101-59.2 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board.

Section 04-101-60 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board, and to state that the board’s authority for Subchapter 6 is pursuant to its adjudicatory functions and may be part of a contested case proceeding under Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 91.

Section 4-101-61 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board.

Section 4-101-62 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board, allow the staff to act on anonymous information, allow the board to bring complaints when someone acts with a lack of candor toward the board, allow the staff to conduct investigations without a motion from the board, and allow the Executive Director/Legal Counsel to sign complaints.

Section 04-101-63 will be amended to provide that the Executive Director/Legal Counsel will make preliminary determinations on the processing of complaints, add a new subsection stating that a complaint will not be processed if it fails to state a violation of the code of ethics, and add a subsection for review of the Executive Director/Legal Counsel’s decision by the board.

Section 04-101-64 will be repealed and replaced with a new section setting forth notice requirements for respondents and the time period to file a response.

Section 04-101-65 will be repealed and replaced with a new section setting forth the procedures for preliminary investigations of complaints by the Executive Director/Legal Counsel and staff, requiring cooperation with the staff during the course of the preliminary investigation, and allowing the Board or staff to investigate additional potential violations that are discovered during the course of the investigation.

Section 04-101-65.1 will be added to allow for a probable cause determination to be made by the Executive Director/Legal Counsel, provide for board review of determinations of no probable cause or a de minimus violation made by the Executive Director/Legal Counsel, requiring the Executive Director/Legal Counsel to provide a report to the board when a probable cause determination is made by the Executive Director/Legal Counsel, and providing for board review of a finding of probable cause by the Executive Director/Legal Counsel.

Section 04-101-66 will be amended to set forth when a formal hearing will be provided and allowing for formal hearings to be conducted pursuant to Section 91-9 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Section 04-101-69.2(c)(4) will be amended to specify that the maximum fine of $1,000 may be per violation.

The title of Subsection 8 will be changed to “SUBCHAPTER 8: PETITIONS FOR OTHER DECLARATORY ORDERS.”

Section 4-101-81 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board.

Section 4-101-82 will be amended to allow the staff to complete the duties set forth in that section on behalf of the board.

Those persons desiring a copy of the proposed rules to be mailed at no cost to them or requesting accommodation due to disabilities, please call 808-270-8078 at least six (6) days before the scheduled meeting. Copies of the proposed rule amendments are also available at 2145 Kaohu Street, Suite 104, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, or may be downloaded from the Board’s website at https://www.mauicounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/155310/2025-Draft-Rule-Changes free of charge.

By/s/ Lauren M. Akitake
Lauren M. Akitake
Executive Director/Legal Counsel
County of Maui Board of Ethics
(SA1506143 9/22, 9/29/25)