Nepotism; prohibition
HRS §84-13.2
in effect84-13.2. Nepotism; prohibition
(a) No employee shall:
(1) Appoint, hire, promote, or retain a relative or
household member to, or demote, discharge, or terminate a relative or household
member from; or
(2) Participate in an interview or discussion
regarding the appointment, hiring, promotion, or retention of a relative or
household member to, or the demotion, discharge, or termination of a relative
or household member from,
a paid position in the employee's employing agency;
provided that this subsection shall not prohibit an employee from performing
ministerial acts that may impact the relative or household member if those acts
are a part of the normal job functions of the employee.
(b) No employee shall
supervise a relative or household member unless the employee:
(1) Has a physical impairment requiring the
employment of a particular relative or household member; provided that the
employee discloses the prospective employment to the state ethics commission
before the appointment or hire is made; or
(2) Disqualifies oneself from taking any official
action directly affecting the relative or household member.
(c) No employee shall award a contract to or
otherwise take official action on a contract with a business if the employee
knows or reasonably should know that the employee's relative or household
member is an executive officer of or holds a substantial ownership interest in
that business.
(d) Notwithstanding the prohibitions in this
section, if an employee who is a supervisor or executive director is unable to
waive or disengage from completing their official duties or from taking
official action and is legally required to take action that directly impacts a
relative or household member receiving an award or other official action on a
contract described in subsection (c), the employee shall not be in violation of
this section if the employee:
(1) Has complied with the disclosure requirements of
section 84-17; and
(2) Posts a notice of intent to award the contract
and files a copy of the notice with the state ethics commission at least five
days before awarding the contract. If the posting and filing of the award in
advance is otherwise prohibited by law, notice shall be posted and filed as
soon as practicable. Every notice of intent shall describe the employee's
relationship with the relative or household member, the relative or household
member's relationship with the entity receiving the contract, action taken and
to be taken affecting the relative or household member's business, and the
dollar value of the contract.
(e) Upon application, the state ethics
commission may grant an exception to an employee or agency that is unable to
comply with this section for good cause, including a demonstrated lack of
qualified personnel or applicants.
(f) Any employee who knowingly violates this
section shall be subject to the administrative fines set forth in section
84-39. Any favorable action obtained by a relative or household member of an
employee in violation of this section shall be voidable in accordance with
sections 84-16 and 84-19.
(g) This section shall not affect the
applicability of section 84-13 or 84-14.
(h) This section shall
not prohibit a state agency from appointing, hiring, promoting, retaining,
demoting, discharging, or terminating a relative or household member of an
employee employed by the agency.
(i) Notwithstanding sections 84-2 and 84-3,
this section shall not apply to employees or agencies of the legislative or
judicial branch of the State.
(j) For purposes of this section:
"Household member" means an
individual who resides in the same dwelling unit as the employee.
"Relative" means the employee's
parent, grandparent, stepparent, child, grandchild, stepchild, foster child,
adopted child, sibling, half-sibling, stepsibling, parent's sibling, first
cousin, sibling's child, spouse, spouse's parent, child-in-law, or
sibling-in-law, or any individual who has become a member of the employee's
immediate family through the Hawaiian hanai custom.
[L 2023, c 261, §1]
Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol02_Ch0046-0115/HRS0084/HRS_0084-0013_0002.htmFetched: 11/10/2026