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The Board of Health, 1851-1959, was established on May 8, 1851 by an act of the 1851 Legislature to serve as the policy-making authority for public health measures in Hawaii. The board’s function was to make rules and regulations relating to the prevention and treatment of the causes and conditions of malignant disease and other danger to public health.

In 1931, the Board of Hospitals and Settlement replaced the bureau of leprosy to operate the receiving stations, hospitals, boys' and girls' homes, and the Kalaupapa Settlement of the bureau for the treatment of leprosy. Between 1947 and 1951 the separate bureaus for the treatment of various infectious diseases were brought under the Division of Preventive Medicine, along with other bureaus, for the better coordination of resources. The treatment of leprosy remained separated under an independent board. In 1949, however, the Board of Hospitals and Settlement was reintegrated into the Board of Health, and it was renamed the Hansen's Disease Division in 1951.

Institutionalized care for juvenile delinquents was begun during the monarchy when legislative action in 1850 provided for the.placement of "vicious children" in foster homes. In 1864 the legislative assembly voted to authorize the Board of Education to establish an industrial and reformatory school for neglected children and for the "reformation of juvenile offenders." Six thousand dollars was appro­priated for the establishment and maintenance of an industrial and reformatory school which was placed under the supervision of the Board of Education. In 1866 Keoneula Reformatory School, located in Kapalama, had fifteen boys and six girls. Due to a lack of funds, the girls school was discontinued in 1870. In a report in 1900, the superintendent of public instruction recommended that the boys school be relocated at Waialee and the Kapalama site be used for a girls school. In 1901 the legislature appropriated funds for the construction of the school, which was occupied in 1903. In 1904 the girls school was opened at the abandoned site, and was later moved to Moiliili.

Due to community pressure, the legislature in 1915 passed Act 81 which vested the management and control of all public industrial and reformatory schools in the Board of Industrial Schools. Effective January 1, 1916, the Board assumed all the powers and duties of the Department of Public Instruction with regard to the opera­tion of the industrial schools and detention homes. The Board consisted of seven members, three of whom were women; the Judge of the Juvenile Court of the First Circuit served as an ex officio member. They were appointed by the governor for a four-year term and served without compensation. The first members of the Board of Industrial Schools were Dr. Charles B. Cooper, chairman, Mrs. F.W. MacFarlane, Miss Bertha B. Taylor, Father H. Valentin, Judge W.L. Whitney, ex officio, Mrs. F.W. Klebahn, and Charles G. Heiser, Jr. In practice, the Board met in a body at least twice a month for detailed study with the superintendents of the schools, discuss­ing problems and budgets. They planned the policy of the schools, approved and signed all disbursements, passed on all parole matters, and made frequent visits to the schools.

In order to handle the finances of the Board, an executive secretary was hired. Conducting the business of the Board from the office in the Armory Building, F. Lang Akana served as the first executive secretary. In that capacity he also acted as the parole officer. In 1939 the executive secretary was given the title of chief parole officer.

Plagued by overcrowded conditions and a close proximity to urban conditions, a new site for the girls home was sought. By the Loan Act Fund (Act 266) of 1925-1927 appropriations were made for the construction of a new plant at Kawailoa in Koolaupoko. The schools was opened as the Maunawili Industrial Schools for Girls in 1929.

By Act 186, enacted in 1929, the industrial schools were formally known as Maunawili Training School for Girls and Waialee Training School for Boys. In 1931 the name of Maunawili Training School for Girls was changed to Kawailoa Training Schools for Girls.

During the session of the Twentieth Legislature in 1939 the Department of Institutions was created by Act 203, and jurisdiction over the Kawailoa Training School for Girls and Waialee Training School for Boys was transferred from the Board of Industrial Schools to the newly created department. The Board of Indus- trial Schools was abolished, and the director of the Department of Institutions assumed the powers formerly exercised by the Board.

In 1905, the granting of licenses to practice medicine became a function of the Board by Act 48, Session Laws of Hawaii. No person was allowed to practice medicine or surgery in the Territory of Hawaii without having a valid license obtained from the Board. Such license was granted upon the written recommendation of the Board of Medical Examiners. Boards of examiners of other medical disciplines such as osteopathy and naturopathy were established later and the Board of Health required their recommendations before granting licenses.

The Board of Nursing was established on July 1, 1917.

The board of Osteopathic Examiners was established on March 24, 1921.

Act 129 of 1931 created the Board of Prisoner Directors, to supersede and assume the duties of the Board of Prison Inspectors of the First Judicial Circuit. In addition, the new board was to supervise the boards of the remaining circuits.

Act 17 of the 2nd Special Session of 1932 explicitly vested the Board of Prison Directors with responsibility for "the entire government, control and supervision of all territorial prisons
and prison camps."