The office of the Marshal of the Hawaiian Islands was established by the Act to Organize the Executive Departments, signed by King Kamehameha III on April 27, 1846. The Marshal was appointed by the King upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, and was subordinate to the Attorney General. The Marshal was responsible for nominating to the island governors persons to be appointed by the governors as island sheriffs. The Marshal was responsible for instructing the island sheriffs in their duties, inter alia, as executive officers of the courts of record, as conservators of the peace, as trustees of jails, prisons and places of public correction, as safekeepers of prisoners, as executors or criminal sentences, as the executors of executive mandates issued by the King, island governors or executive department heads, as commanders of the civil posse, as the apprehenders of fugitives from justice, including deserters from ships, as the detectors of crimes and misdemeanors, and as coroners. The sheriffs were subordinate to the island governors, were permitted to appoint deputies and were accountable for all escapes and unnecessarily harsh treatment of prisoners.
By Joint Resolution of May 4, 184 7, the Legislature amended the Act to Organize the Executive Departments by transferring control of the Marshal from the Attorney General to
the Minister of the Interior, which latter official was given the duty of nominating the Marshal for appointment by the King. The Marshal was simultaneously designated as the
Sheriff of Oahu and the Prefect of Police of Honolulu.
'This arrangement was confirmed and clarified in detail in the Compiled Laws of 1859, which specified that the Marshal was the Chief of Police of the Kingdom, and which gave the Marshal the authority to appoint the island sheriffs, with the approval of the respective island governors. The Combined Laws also explicitly assigned the duties of the island sheriffs on their islands, cited in the first paragraph, supra, to the Marshal with respect to the Kingdom as a whole, and required that the Marshal submit to the Minister of the Interior a quarterly report of accounts and such other matters relating to the police department as he deemed proper.
Act 8 of 1888 transferred control of the Marshal back to the Attorney General, and confirmed the Marshal as the Chief of Police of the Kingdom. Concurrently, Act 7 of 1888 established the Board of Prison Inspectors, subordinate to the Minister of the Interior, and made such board responsible to supervise the discipline and government of Oahu Prison, and at their discretion to provide rules for all the prisons and jails of the Kingdom. The act provided that the board consult with the Marshal in the performance of its duties, but was
explicit that the final authority was with the board. Thus, with respect to prisons, the Marshal was subordinate to the Board of Prison Inspectors. The authority of the Marshal was
modified by Act 8, and his duties were expanded by Act 37. Act 8 sustained his authority to appoint the island sheriffs, but authority to approve his appointments was transferred from the island governors to the Attorney General. At the same time, Act 37 provided for the island sheriffs, and the Marshal as Sheriff of Oahu. to take over from the respective island governors the responsibility for the administration of oaths, the control and disposition of wrecks, the shipping and discharge of seamen and the testing and certification of weights and measures.
The Compiled Laws of 1897 confirmed the command relations, authority, duties and responsibilities of the Marshal and island sheriffs as established or modified by the Session Laws of 1888, to include the authority to appoint jailors, and explicitly established that there were three island sheriffs in addition to the Marshal: one for the island of Hawaii; one for Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe; and one for Kauai and Niihau.
The Organic Act of 1900 renamed the Marshal as the High Sheriff and sustained the existing organization and functions of the police.
Act 39 of 1905 (the "County Act") established counties within the Territory of Hawaii. One result of this act was to place the island sheriffs within the county governments and
subordinate to the respective boards of supervisors, rather than to the High Sheriff. Another result was that the High Sheriff ceased concurrently to be the Sheriff of Oahu. The High Sheriff retained responsibility to appoint jailors for Oahu Prison and other territorial-level confinement facilities; similar authority with respect to county jails was transferred to the
counties.
At the same time, Act 41 of 1905 established boards of prison inspectors for each judicial circuit, and made the boards responsible for jails and prisons within their circuits.
The High Sheriff was made responsible to the Board of Prison Inspectors of the First Judicial Circuit for Oahu Prison, and he was potentially responsible to other boards for territorial-level prison facilities in other circuits.
The High Sheriff was de facto Warden of Oahu Prison, and he was indexed as such in the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1925, although he was never designated as such by statute.
That situation was changed by Act 17, 1st Special Session, 1932, which created a separate office of Warden of Oahu Prison and removed from the High Sheriff the responsibility for
territorial prisons and prisoners.
The High Sheriff continued as the Chief of Police of the Territory, responsible for the public peace, the arrest of fugitives, etc., until 1959, when his office was abolished by Act l, 2nd Special Session, 1959 (the "Reorganization Act").
