Who governs Hawaii

Every governing body we track in Hawaii, what it decides, and where to follow it.

17 bodies tracked, and each one gets its own page as we publish them. Hawaii has one state government and four counties, and nothing between the county and the resident. That makes the list of general-purpose governments unusually short and the list of state boards and commissions unusually long. We have counted the first and not the second, so this is a working directory rather than a census. Where an entry below is linked, that page is up, covering the body's authority, cadence rule, testimony process, records and video. Where it is not linked yet, it is being written.

The state legislature

Hawaii House of Representatives Fifty-one members, one per district, two-year terms, no term limit (state constitution, Article III, Sections 3, 4 and 6). Speaker: Nadine K. Nakamura (D), House District 15, which covers Haena, Wainiha, Hanalei, Princeville, Kilauea, Anahola, Kealia, Kapaa and Kawaihau on Kauai. Vice Speaker: Linda Ichiyama (D). Majority Leader: Sean Quinlan (D). Minority Leader: Lauren Matsumoto (R). The House organizes into 18 committees, all of whose members and chairs the Speaker appoints. Committee hearing notice is 48 hours. Source: House leadership

Hawaii State Senate Twenty-five members, one per district, four-year terms, no term limit (Article III, Sections 2, 4 and 6). President: Ronald D. Kouchi (D), Senate District 8, which covers Kauai and Niihau. Majority Leader: Dru Mamo Kanuha (D), Senate District 3, Kona, Kau and Volcano. Minority Leader: Brenton Awa (R). The Senate organizes into 15 committees. Notice is 72 hours for the first hearing on a measure and 48 for later ones. The Senate alone confirms the Governor's appointments to the state boards below, and it must hold a public hearing on every one of them. Source: Senate leadership

Both presiding officers represent neighbor island districts. The Speaker of the House sits for a Kauai district and the President of the Senate sits for Kauai and Niihau. In a state where coverage concentrates on Honolulu, that is worth knowing.

The Legislature decides the state budget, education policy for every public school in Hawaii, the tax code, health and housing programs, and land and water law. Because there is no municipal layer, a great deal of what would be city business elsewhere is state business here.

Committee counts are from the Legislative Reference Bureau's Public Access Room: Committees and the public hearing process.

County councils

Honolulu City Council Nine members, one from each of nine districts, four-year staggered terms, hard limit of two consecutive four-year terms (Revised Charter Section 3-102). Nine standing committees. The chair is elected by the nine at an organizational meeting held "at twelve o'clock meridian on the second day of January of every odd-numbered year" (Section 3-107.1). Chair: Tommy Waters, District IV. Vice Chair: Andria Tupola, District I. Honolulu is a consolidated city and county, so this one body legislates for the entire island of Oahu: budget, zoning, property tax rates, rail, and the police and fire departments. The Council's own Rules of Organization and Procedure are not published on its website; the January 2021 text was found only as an attachment to a resolution on the city's Granicus server. Source: honolulucitycouncil.org

Hawaii County Council Nine members, one per district, two-year terms, limit of four consecutive two-year terms (county charter Section 3-2). Eight standing committees. Chair: Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba, District 8. Governs the island of Hawaii. Runs its meetings simultaneously from chambers in Hilo and Kailua-Kona, connected by videoconference, with four additional courtesy sites. Its charter requires an equal number of regular meetings in east and west Hawaii (Section 3-7(a)). Source: Attend meetings and submit testimony

Maui County Council Governs three inhabited islands from one chamber in Wailuku: Maui, Molokai and Lanai. It is the only council in Hawaii legislating for more than one island, which makes it the body of record for Molokai and Lanai residents as well as Maui. Its charter requires interactive remote access, including two-way question and answer, for the residents of Hana, Lanai and Molokai at every council and committee meeting (Section 3-5.5, amended 2022). Source: Council Meetings

Kauai County Council Seven members, all elected at-large with no districts, two-year terms, limit of four consecutive two-year terms (county charter Sections 3.02 and 3.03). Seven standing committees. Chair: Mel Rapozo. Vice Chair: KipuKai Kualii. Members: Addison Bulosan, Bernard P. Carvalho Jr., Felicia Cowden, Fern Holland, Arryl Kaneshiro. This is the only county council in Hawaii with no districts at all, so every member answers to every voter in the county and no part of the island has a member of its own. Source: County Council

Native Hawaiian governance

Hawaii has no federally recognized tribal government, and that is a substantive political fact rather than an absence. Two bodies carry Native Hawaiian governance functions, and both are government, not advocacy organizations.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Board of Trustees Nine trustees, four at-large and five by island district (Hawaii Island; Maui; Molokai and Lanai; Oahu; Kauai and Niihau), four-year terms, and no term limit at all (HRS 13D-1 and 13D-5). Chair: Trustee Kaialii Kahele. Vice Chair: Trustee Keoni Souza. Three standing committees, on all of which every trustee sits. OHA was created by the 1978 Constitutional Convention and approved by voters that year, and HRS 10-4 makes it "a body corporate which shall be a separate entity independent of the executive branch." Every registered voter in Hawaii votes for these trustees, including for the island seats, and a district trustee is therefore elected by the whole state rather than by the district. Sources: About OHA, Board of Trustees

Hawaiian Homes Commission (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) Administers the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, which sets aside state land for homesteading by Native Hawaiians. The commission decides awards, leases and land use on those lands. The Act is adopted into the state constitution as a compact with the United States (Article XII, Section 3), and the Legislature may restructure the commission but "the qualifications of lessees shall not be changed except with the consent of the United States." A homestead lease requires one-half Hawaiian blood quantum (HHCA Section 201) and runs for 99 years at $1 a year (Section 208(2)). The acreage held and the length of the homestead waiting list are both recurring subjects of state politics, and neither figure is established here. Source: Hawaiian Homes Commission 2026 meeting schedule

Statewide boards and commissions

Hawaii State Board of Education Nine voting members, all appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, three-year terms, serving without pay (state constitution Article X, Section 2, and HRS 302A-121). The Governor also picks which of them chairs the board, under HRS 302A-124. Chairperson: Roy M. Takumi. There are also a student representative and a military representative who may take part in discussion but are not members, may not vote, and are not counted for quorum. Four standing committees. Governs the single statewide school district. There are no independent school district boards anywhere in Hawaii, so this one board sets policy for every public school on every island, governs the public library system, and appoints the State Public Charter School Commission. Meets on Oahu at the Queen Liliuokalani Building. Source: boe.hawaii.gov

Board of Land and Natural Resources The board is the department head, not an advisory body. HRS 171-3(a): "The department of land and natural resources shall be headed by an executive board to be known as the board of land and natural resources." Seven members appointed by the Governor with Senate confirmation, chaired by the DLNR director, with no more than three from the same political party (HRS 171-4(a)) and two seats reserved by statute for expertise, one in conservation and natural resources and one in "native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices." Decides use, lease and conservation of state land and water, including conservation district permits, Mauna Kea, shoreline and small boat harbors. Source: BLNR meetings 2026

Land Use Commission Nine members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, one from each county and five at large, serving as unpaid volunteers. Chair for fiscal year 2026: Brian Lee. First Vice Chair: Kuikeokalani Kamakea-Ohelo. Under Chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, all land in Hawaii sits in one of four state districts: Urban, Rural, Conservation, Agricultural. The commission decides petitions to move boundaries for parcels over 15 acres or inside the Conservation District. Boundary changes of 15 acres or less outside the Conservation District belong to the counties. Any boundary amendment needs six affirmative votes regardless of how many seats are filled, and two seats were vacant on the verification date. If the commission fails to act within the statutory period the petition is deemed approved. Source: About the LUC

Public Utilities Commission Three commissioners, full-time and salaried, appointed by the Governor with Senate confirmation to six-year terms with a twelve-year cap, the chair designated by the Governor (HRS 269-2). That makes it the only body on this page whose members do the job as their occupation. Regulates electricity, gas, telecommunications, private water and wastewater, water carriers and motor carriers, in its own words to ensure "safe, reliable and affordable utility services". Its dockets are where utility rates and the state's renewable energy transition are actually decided, and they run continuously rather than on a meeting calendar. The Division of Consumer Advocacy is an ex officio party to every proceeding under HRS 269-51, which means ratepayers have a statutory representative in the room whether or not anyone testifies. Source: puc.hawaii.gov

University of Hawaii Board of Regents Eleven regents, volunteers serving without compensation, nominated by the Regents Candidate Advisory Council, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. HRS 26-11 sets the seat map by statute: two from Hawaii County, two from Maui County, one from Kauai County, five from the City and County of Honolulu, plus a student regent. Governs the University of Hawaii system. Meetings rotate among system campuses, which makes it one of the few statewide bodies that regularly convenes off Oahu. The Regents Candidate Advisory Council, which controls who may become a regent, is exempt from the Sunshine Law by statute (HRS 304A-104.6(k)). Source: hawaii.edu/bor

Two corrections to this section, made 2026-08-16. This page previously said the Regents are "confirmed by the Legislature." The state constitution, Article X, Section 6, says "advice and consent of the senate," and HRS 304A-104(a) says "confirmed by the senate." The University's own pages say Legislature, which is where the error came from. The Board of Education entry previously did not say that the Governor appoints all nine members and also selects the chair, which is the single fact that shapes how that board works.

County planning commissions

Land use decisions below the state level run through county planning commissions.

Honolulu Planning Commission Nine members, appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council, five-year staggered terms expiring June 30, with a limit of two consecutive full terms or ten consecutive years, whichever is greater (Revised Charter Sections 6-1505 and 13-103). Members must be registered voters of the city, serve until a successor is appointed and qualified, and are unpaid beyond expenses. Action requires a majority of the entire membership, which the commission's rules state as five of nine regardless of how many are present. Chair: Pane Meatoga III. Vice Chair: Joy Kimura.

A 2022 charter amendment reserves four seats for expertise, each to be held by a different member, in: Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, native Hawaiian law, or traditional Hawaiian land usage; land use planning, policies and principles; land development and construction; and climate change and sea level rise, or environmental protection and preservation. Voters put those there, not the mayor or the Council.

It holds the public hearing on every proposal to adopt or amend the General Plan, the development plans or the zoning ordinances, and recommends through the mayor to the Council. The Council can override it by its silence: under Charter Sections 6-1511.2 and 6-1513, a commission that disapproves, modifies unacceptably, or simply fails to report within thirty days of closing its hearing or ninety days of receipt can be passed over on a two-thirds Council vote. Meetings are in the 6th Floor Conference Room of the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building, 650 South King Street, not at the 7th floor mailing address. The Department of Planning and Permitting also runs the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Building Board of Appeals, and the Oahu Historic Preservation Commission. Source: Planning Commission

The Department of Planning and Permitting's own page says only that members are "appointed by the mayor." It omits the Council confirmation the charter requires, which matters because Charter Section 3-107.9 makes the Council hold a public hearing on the mayor's appointees. That is a second point at which a resident can be heard about who sits on this commission.

Maui Planning Commission, Molokai Planning Commission, Lanai Planning Commission Maui County has three separate planning commissions, one for each inhabited island, which no other county in Hawaii does. The Molokai and Lanai commissions decide the land use questions that matter most on those islands, and the Maui County Council is the only legislative body either island has. Source: Planning Commissions, Planning Department, 2200 Main Street, One Main Plaza, Suite 315, Wailuku

Statewide elected officials

The Kauai mayor is the only holder above confirmed from news coverage rather than from the county's own page, and is marked as such rather than presented as equivalent.

Not yet tracked

The Hawaii County Planning Commission and the Kauai Planning Commission, the four county boards of water supply, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board, the Hawaii Tourism Authority board, the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, the county police commissions, liquor commissions and charter commissions, the Campaign Spending Commission, the State Ethics Commission, and the many other state boards and commissions that meet in public under the same Sunshine Law as the bodies above.

Verified 2026-08-15. Each entry was checked against the body's own site on that date, and the composition, term and term-limit figures added on 2026-08-16 come from the governing charter, constitution or statute cited beside them rather than from a landing page. Officers change and pages move. The body's own page is authoritative.

Hawaiian words on this page are rendered in plain ASCII without okina or kahako, per the convention explained on the about page. The government pages linked above carry the correct spellings.