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Following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in January 1893, there was no legislature per se until 1895. On July 2, 1894, a constitutional convention unanimously approved a previously drafted constitution for the Republic of Hawaii, which succeeded the Provisional Government on July 4, 1894. On October 29, 1894, elections were held for the 15 senators and 15 representatives of the Legislature of the Republic of Hawaii, which first met, in joint session, at noon on June 12, 1895, to hear President Dole welcome the reconstitution of a regular legislative body in Hawaii and define the important issues confronting the nation. There were four sessions of this legislature: the Special Session of 1895 (53 days), the Regular Session of 1896 (100 days), the Extra Session of 1897 (Senate only, 3 days) which ratified the Treaty of Annexation, and the Regular Session of 1898 (120 days). The Republic of Hawaii officially ceased to exist upon annexation. Although the executive departments continued to carry out their administrative functions, under the auspices of the U.S. State Department, until passage of the Organic Act in 1900, the Legislature of the Republic of Hawaii adjourned for the last time on July 7, 1898, coincidentally the same day that President McKinley signed the Resolution of Annexation.

King Kamehameha III granted the first Constitution of the Hawaiian Islands on October 8, 1840. This date, which divides the history of the Kingdom into pre-constitutional and constitutional periods, is also the birthday of the Legislature of Hawaii, which assembled for the first time in Lahaina, Maui, from November 2 through 14, 1840.

The Constitution of 1840 named sixteen individuals, called "Nobles," to sit in government councils and provided that "No law of the nation shall be passed without their assent." It further specified that the council was, inter alia, to "...assemble annually, for the purpose of seeking the welfare of the nation...[and] transact such other business as the King shall commit to [it]." The Constitution of 1840 also established a representative body "...chosen by the people..." who were to "...sit in council with the Nobles and establish laws for the nation." The same document specified that the Nobles and representatives were to meet as separate bodies, although there is no evidence that they did so until 1851. The Constitution did not formally name the legislative body, but referred to it as the Nobles... and the representative body." They called themselves the "Legislative Council." Only Nobles met in the first session of the legislature, but they passed the law which set the number of representatives at seven, specified the islands from which they were to come, and established the manner by which they were to be chosen. Two acts passed in 1850 ("An Act to regulate the election of Representatives of the people" and "An act to increase the number of Representatives of the people in the Legislative Council") increased the number of representatives to 24, provided for their election by secret ballot, prescribed
the qualifications of voters, and granted seats in the Nobles to Ministers of the Crown.

The legislature met in Lahaina until 1845. From April 12 of that year it met in Honolulu. The Constitution of 1852 formally vested legislative power in the House of Nobles, the House of Representatives, and the King. It also provided that the legislature "be styled the Legislature of the Hawaiian Islands". It required that the houses assemble annually in separate session, ". . . to make all manner of wholesome laws . . . as they judge to be for the welfare of the nation." It provided that representatives were to be compensated for their services; Nobles were to "sit without pay". It also increased the number of Nobles to thirty, to be appointed by the King, for life, and made the Ministers of the Crown ex officio members. The Nobles were also established as a court with "full and sole" authority to try any "officers of the Kingdom" impeached by the House of Representatives. The number of representatives, to be elected annually, was increased to not fewer than 24 or more than 40, "based upon the principle of equality . . . forever regulated and apportioned according to the population," the exact number to be determined by results of an official census. The number was fixed at 27 by Act in 1853.

The Constitution of 1864 reduced the number of Nobles to 20, provided for biennial sessions of the legislature, biennial election of representatives, and required that the Nobles and representatives sit together in joint session. Ministers retained ex officio membership in the Nobles. The legislature was to be "styled the Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom." It was more commonly called the "Legislative Assembly". The number of representatives was increased to 28 in 1868 by Act.

The Constitution of 1887 changed the number of Nobles from 20 to 24, apportioned them among the several islands and provided for their direct election in 1888 to serve until 1890. It also established a scheme for election in 1890 of one-third of the Nobles to two-year terms, one-third to four-year terms and one-third to six-year terms. Biennially thereafter, one-third of the Nobles would be elected to six-year terms. This scheme was never fully implemented. The 1892 session of the Legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom was prorogued by the Queen on January 14, 1893, after sitting for 171 days. The Monarchy was overthrown three days later.

The Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) was created by Act 91, Session Laws of Hawaii, 1943, as a department of the University of Hawaii (UH), "for the use of the members of the legislature, the Governor and the various departments, institutions and agencies" of the territorial government, as well as, under circumstances regulated by the president of the university, private citizens. The purposes of the Bureau were: to assist the Governor and members of the legislature in the proper performance of the their functions by providing them with impartial and accurate information and reports concerning legislative problems; to provide a research and reference service; to secure information pertaining to legislative problems; to draft bills; to render legal services in connection therewith; and to make available for use by agencies and citizens its reference materials and facilities.
Act 171, Session Laws of Hawaii, 1972, established the LRB as an office under the legislature, disestablished the LRB as a department of the UH and transferred its functions from the UH to the newly created office. At the same time, the research services of the Bureau were restricted to the legislature, its committees and members. Concurrently, the office of the Revisor of Statutes was placed within the LRB.

The Land Survey Division was established in 1959 under the Reorganization Act of 1959, Act 1, Second Special Session. It succeeded the Territorial Survey Department and is a division of the Department of Accounting and General Services.

The Land Study Bureau existed from 1957 to 1974, but its records include materials dated as early as 1923. It was established to gather, analyze and publish information on the characteristics, use and potential utilization of land in Hawaii in order to enhance the operational effectiveness of government agencies concerned with the entire spectrum of land issues, from agriculture to zoning.

Established: By Act 35, SLH 1957. The primary Legislative motive for creating the Land Study Bureau (LSB) was to respond to the lack of basic, readily available information on all aspects of land; such information was necessary for proper land use planning.

Dates: May 1, 1957-June 30, 1974.

Predecessor Agencies: None.

Organization: The LSB was part of the Organized Research Department of the University of Hawaii and responsible to the Director of Organized Research. It was placed in the University of Hawaii system to ensure the objectivity of its work and to provide it with easy access to other University researchers. In practice, it worked directly with various territorial/state and U.S. agencies. To carry out its legislative mandate, the LSB organized itself as a multidisciplinary group whose purpose was to research land use. They considered themselves a land fact finding agency. They had no interest in becoming involved in land use recommendations or zoning changes. Nevertheless, other University of Hawaii departments and state agencies sometimes felt that the LSB duplicated their own work. As a result, attempts were made to integrate the LSB into other agencies, but in the end it remained separate, on the basis that independent status was necessary to provide impartial service to a wide range of groups.

The Land Evaluation and Site Assessment Commission (LESAC) was established by Act 273, Session Laws of Hawaii, 1983.
The purpose of Act 273 was to implement Article XI Section 3, of the Hawaii State Constitution, by providing for standards, criteria, and procedures designed to conserve and protect agricultural lands and to assure long-term availability of agriculturally suitable land. The Legislature directed that LESAC: formulate the State of Hawaii land evaluation and site assessment system; identify, develop and recommend for legislative adoption important agricultural lands per that system; and evaluate alternative agricultural production goals.
LESAC was further directed to submit reports to the legislature prior to the convening of the regular session in both 1984 and 1985. The reports' contents were specified in Act 273, and included evaluations, findings, recommendations, maps of agricultural lands identified per the recommendations, and a comprehensive set of legislative proposals to effectuate the intent of LESAC's recommendations.
Finally, Act 273 specified the composition of the 17-member Commission, placed it administratively under LRB, provided funding and directed that the Commission would cease to exist upon the adjournment sine die of the regular session of the 1985 legislature.
The Commission first met in October, 1983, and met approximately monthly thereafter. The Commission adopted by-laws, organized into sub-committees and hired a consultant to do the detail work of the Commission. Initial work involved gathering background information and data regarding existing agricultural systems. This was followed by analysis of existing agricultural classifications, policies and procedures, and review of LESA concepts and methodology, with a view to formulating courses of action for the implementation of the new systems and processes which LESAC was created to develop.
Part of the LESAC charter in Act 273 was to involve the public in its work via informational meetings and hearings. Informational meetings were conducted on all islands except Kahoolawe and Niihau in March, 1984. Public hearing on the draft initial report were held in February and March, 1985.
Delays in the work of the Commission pushed back the submission of the 1984 report from the beginning of the 1984 legislative session until March, 1985. In that report, the Commission recommended that its existence be extended beyond the end of the 1985 legislative session, a recommendation approved by the passage of Act 148, SLH 1985, which extended the term of the Commission by one year.
Public hearings on the draft final report were held in December, 1985, and January, 1986. The final report was submitted in February, 1986. The Commission held its last meeting on April 16, 1986, and ceased to exist on April 23, 1986.