Two state boards have acknowledged that they violated Hawaiʻi’s Sunshine Law when they hired top-level state employees in a series of closed-door meetings and interviews.
The admission comes more than a year after the Public First Law Center filed a suit against the state-owned Agribusiness Development Corp. and state Defender Council, which oversees the Office of the Public Defender, in a case that could have broad implications for government transparency.
The lawsuit seeks to clarify the responsibility of boards and commissions to transparently hire, fire and evaluate top-level state employees. Last month, Circuit Court Judge Jordon Kimura issued an order that included the release of previously confidential executive session meeting minutes…