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Authority record

Hawaiʻi Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF)

  • Corporate body
  • 1864-present

Chronology:
December 30, 1864 Authority to establish and operate Industrial and Reformatory Schools given to the Board of Education.
March 1865 The first Industrial and Reformatory School is established by Board of Education at Keoneula, Kapalama, Oahu, for boys and girls.
1870 The girls’ department of the Industrial and Reformatory School is discontinued.
1900 Management of the Industrial and Reformatory School is transferred from the Board of Education to the Superintendent of Education.
May 1903 The [boys’] Industrial and Reformatory School is moved to Waialee, Waialua, Oahu.
1904 An Industrial and Reformatory School for girls is established at the old Keoneula site.
1913 The girls’ Industrial and Reformatory School is relocated to Moiliili;
January 1, 1916 Management of the Industrial and Reformatory Schools is transferred from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Board of Industrial Schools.
1929 The girls’ Industrial and Reformatory School is relocated to a new facility in Maunawili, Koolaupoko, Oahu.
May 1, 1929 The two schools are formally named the “Waialee Training School for Boys” and the “Maunawili Training School for Girls.”
July 1, 1931 The Maunawili Training School for Girls is renamed the “Kawailoa Training School for Girls.”
July 1, 1939 The Board of Industrial Schools is abolished and the training schools are incorporated into the new Department of Institutions.
September 15, 1950 The boys’ training school is relocated from Waialee to Kawailoa.
1951 Management of academic programs at the training schools is assigned to the Department of Public Instruction. The girls’ program is called “Olomana School.”
May 10, 1951 The boys’ school is named the “Koolau Boys’ Home” and the Kawailoa Training School for Girls is renamed the “Kawailoa Girls’ Home.”
May 28, 1951 The two schools are consolidated into a new Division of Training Schools within the Department of Institutions.
April 2, 1952 An additional boys’ facility is opened on the Big Island and named the “Mauna Loa Forestry Camp.”
September 1953 The academic programs conducted by the Department of Public Instruction are combined into a single co-educational program at Olomana School.
September 30, 1953 The Mauna Loa Forestry Camp is closed.
October 5, 1953 A new boys’ facility, the Molokai Forestry Camp, is opened.
June 5, 1957 The name “industrial and reformatory schools” is replaced in statute by the name “training schools.”
January 19, 1960 As a part of the reorganization of government concurrent with statehood, the Department of Institutions is abolished and the training schools are transferred into the Corrections Division of the new Department of Social Services.
May 17, 1963 The training schools are renamed the “Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.”
January 31, 1967 The Molokai Forestry Camp is closed.
July 19, 1970 The Department of Social Services is renamed the “Department of Social Services and Housing.”
July 1, 1987 The Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility is transferred from the Department of Social Services and Housing to the newly-created Department of Corrections.
July 1, 1987 The Department of Social Services and Housing is renamed “Department of Human Services.”
June 7, 1989 The Department of Corrections is disestablished and the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility is transferred to the newly created Department of Public Safety.
July 1, 1991 The Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility is transferred from the Department of Public Safety to the newly-created Office of Youth Services, which is attached for administrative purposes to the Department of Human Services.

Hawaiʻi State Commission on the Status of Women

  • Corporate body
  • July 2, 1970

The Governor's Commission on the Status of Women was established by gubernatorial executive order on May 15, 1964. The Fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaiʻi in 1970 passed Senate Bill No. 17 4 - a bill for an act establishing a state commission and county committees on the status of women. On July 2, 1970, Governor John A. Burns signed into law Act 190 creating the Hawaiʻi State Commission on the Status of Women (HSCSW) to be a statewide organization concerned with improving the lives of women in Hawaiʻi. This same act created County Committees on the Status of Women to look into county issues regarding women.

For administrative purposes, the state commission was attached to the Department of Budget and Finance. Act 302 passed by the Tenth State Legislature in 1980 transferred the commission to the Department of Social Services and Housing. In 1987 the department's name was changed to the Department of Human Services. Act 151 passed by the Eighteenth State Legislature in 1995 mandated that the lieutenant governor assume administrative responsibility for the commission.

Hawaiʻi County Investigation Commission

  • Corporate body
  • 1905-1914

Early in 1913, the Hilo Board of Trade, uncertain that Hawaiʻi County revenues were properly collected and spent, hired an accountant to examine the County’s financial records and produce a report of its findings. A complete and detailed audit was recommended. The Board of Trade requested the Hawaiʻi County Board of Supervisors to perform a thorough audit at County expense. The Board of Supervisors rejected the request. The Board of Trade appealed to the Senate Hold Over Committee on Ways and Means of the 1911 Territorial Legislature to authorize the Audit Company of Hawaii, Ltd. to conduct an examination of County Auditor and Treasurer financial records. Though the audit was not exhaustive, it was found that warrants were issued in excess of seventy-one thousand dollars without authorization from the Board of Supervisors. Charles K. Maguire, County Auditor from 1905 until 1913, admitted embezzling more than twenty-seven thousand dollars. These disclosures resulted in the passage of Act 42 (Session Laws 1913) by the Territorial Legislature, charging the Governor to appoint a Commission to investigate financial mismanagement in Hawaiʻi County. Governor Walter F. Frear created the Hawaiʻi County Investigation Commission on March 28, 1913. The three-member Commission was authorized to 1) audit the financial transactions of the County of Hawaiʻi since its formation as a county in 1905; 2) probe allegations of embezzlement and misappropriation of County funds by County officials; 3) identify public officials, private businesses or individuals who embezzled or misappropriated County funds. Lastly, the Commissions findings and recommendations would be summarized in a Report to the Governor. Governor Frear appointed Harold B. Elliot, William Williamson and Elia A.C. Long as the three-member Commission on April 8, 1913. The Commissioners designated Elliot as Chairman, Williamson as Disbursing Officer, and Long as Secretary. In addition, R.W. Breckons was retained as attorney, B.K. Dwight as stenographer and H. Gooding Field as auditor.

Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council

  • Corporate body
  • 1994-1996

The Hawaii State Legislature created this independent agency with membership specified in Act 359, 1993 SLH. Initially, as HSAC, it was composed of 20 members: 19 members appointed by the governor, with at least 12 of these 19 members appointed from nominations submitted by Hawaiian organizations, and one member serving in an ex officio capacity, representing “mainland” resident Hawaiians. HSAC, and later HSEC, were provided staff assistance through DAGS.

In response to concerns that the members were not elected by the native Hawaiian people, the members of HSAC submitted legislation in January, 1994 to have members selected by Hawaiian organizations for the newly-established HSEC. See H.B. 3630, 1st draft, 1994 SLH. At the Hawaiian Organization Conference on February 4, 1994, however, the overwhelming consensus of the 200 organizations represented was that selecting new members would be a waste of time and money, and that HSAC should continue providing leadership in this process. The legislation adopted as Act 200, 1994 SLH, therefore, changed the nature and name of the organization, but made no changes in the composition of its membership.

Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Council

  • Corporate body
  • 1993-1994

Through Act 359, the 1993 Hawaii state legislature established the Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission (“HSAC”) to seek counsel from the native Hawaiian people on how to facilitate their effort to be governed by an indigenous sovereign nation of their own choosing, to study self-determination and self-governance for Hawaiians. HSAC was placed administratively under the Office of State Planning (“OSP”). Act 359 provided that HSAC “shall advise the legislature” on:
(1) Conducting special elections related to this Act;
(2) Apportioning voting districts;
(3) Establishing the eligibility of convention delegates;
(4) Conducting educational activities for Hawaiian voters, a voter registration drive, and research activities in preparation for the convention;
(5) Establishing the size and composition of the convention delegation; and
(6) Establishing the dates for the special elections.
In addition, section 4(c) of Act 359 required HSAC to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the legislature “not less than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 1994.” Act 359, §4(c), 1993 SLH at p. 1012. Responding to the legislature’s mandate, in 1994, HSAC submitted legislation, given House Bill (H.B.) No. 3630 and Senate Bill (S.B.) No. 3153.
The legislature, by Act 200 of 1994 (formerly known as H.B. No. 3630), amended Act 359 and changed HSAC from an advisory body to an implementing body, independent of state agencies and election laws. All reference to HSAC was removed from the law, and the body was renamed the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council (“HSEC”). HSEC was placed administratively under the Department of Accounting and General Services (“DAGS”). One of the main purposes for HSEC was to “hold a plebiscite in 1995 to determine the will of the indigenous Hawaiian people to restore a nation of their own choosing.” Act 200 provided that HSEC “shall”:
(1) Plan and conduct the plebiscite in 1995;
(2) Carry out the responsibilities necessary for the conduct of elections and the convening of delegates;
(3) Provide for an apportionment plan;
(4) Establish the eligibility of convention delegates;
(5) Conduct Hawaiian voter education and registration; and
(6) Establish task forces and committees necessary for the purposes of this Act.
Act 200, pursuant to its terms, was to be repealed on December 31, 1997.
Finally, the legislature, by Act 140 of 1996, made further amendments to the law which, among other things, removed all reference to the word “plebiscite,” and inserted the words “Native Hawaiian Vote”. Act 140 also extended the deadline for the Native Hawaiian Vote from 1995 to 1996, and added another section to the law, adding these purposes for the HSEC to:
(1) Plan and conduct the Native Hawaiian Vote in 1996;
(2) Carry out the responsibilities necessary for the conduct of elections and the convening of delegates;
(3) Provide for an apportionment plan;
(4) Establish the eligibility of convention delegates;
(5) Conduct Hawaiian voter education and registration;
(6) Establish task forces and committees necessary for the purposes of this Act; and
(7) Provide election guidelines and procedures for the Native Hawaiian Vote, without regard to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Act 140 also inserted specific language to terminate HSEC’s existence on December 31, 1996.

Timeline
1993 July 1. By enacting Act 359, the Hawaii State Legislature creates the Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission (“HSAC”). This Commission is a 19-member body, and one ex-officio member representing mainland Hawaiians, within the Office of State Planning; the members, including three state officials, are to be appointed by Governor John Waihee. HSAC, which is funded with $240,000, is to submit to the legislature, prior to its 1994 session, a plan for: (1) an election, "under the election laws of the state," of delegates for: (2) a convention to develop: (3) an "organic document for the governance of a Hawaiian sovereign nation," and (4) a "ratification election."

1994 February 18. HSAC issues its final report

    June 2.     The Hawaii State Legislature enacts Act 200 for the purposes of supporting a fair and impartial process to determine the will of the indigenous people and to restore a nation of their own choosing.  The Act requires, among other things, that: "Nothing arising out of the Hawaiian convention provided for in this Act, or any results of the ratification vote on proposals from the Hawaiian convention, shall be applied or interpreted to supersede, conflict, waive, alter, or affect the constitution, charters, statutes, laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances of the State of Hawaii or its political subdivisions, including its respective department, agencies, boards, and commissions."

1995 HSEC issues an interim report.

1996 July 15. Approximately 85,000 ballots are mailed to ethnic Hawaiians in a State sponsored election asking the question "Shall the Hawaiian people elect delegates to propose a Native Hawaiian government?" Ballots were to be returned by August 15, with plans to announce the results of the vote on September 2.
July 31. The Native Hawaiian Convention is convened. One of the announced goals is the development of a constitution on Hawaiian self-determination that can be ratified by the more than 200,000 Hawaiians in Hawaii and on the mainland.
August. Vote counting is administered by the League of Women Voters. The results are certified on August 24.
September 6. As the result of a lawsuit filed earlier that summer, United States District Judge David A. Ezra issues a ruling in favor of HSEC. The lawsuit had challenged the constitutionality of the Native Hawaiian Vote. The case was titled Kakalia vs. Cayetano, Civil No. 96-00616. In his ruling, Judge Ezra announced that the results of the vote could be announced on September 9. Plaintiffs appealed Judge Ezra’s decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; that Court upheld the decision shortly thereafter.
A companion case was Rice vs. Cayetano, Civil No. 96- 00390, wherein the plaintiff Harold Rice challenged the race-based elections for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (“OHA”); that case was appealed to, heard, and resolved by the United States Supreme Court in 2000.
September 11. Results of the Native Hawaiian vote are announced. Of the 85,000 ballots mailed, only 33,000 ballots were returned. Of those 33,000 ballots returned, 30,423 were eligible to be counted. Of the 30,423 ballots eligible to be counted, 26.72% of voters or 8,129 votes 'a'ole or no, and 73.28% of voters or 22,294 voted 'ae or yes.
December. HSEC issues its final report.
December 31. HSEC’s existence is formally terminated pursuant to the legislation that created it. Its work is assumed by the non-governmental, non-profit organization Hawaiian Sovereignty Council, also known as Ha Hawaii.

Hawaiian Post Office

  • Corporate body
  • 1850-1900

The first mention of a postal system in Hawaii was an enactment of the Legislature (4th Article, Second Act) on April 27, 1846, relating to the handling of inter-island mails. It was entitled "An Act to Organize the Executive Departments of the Hawaiian Islands," and stated:

"The collector general of customs and the collectors of the respective ports of entry and departure…shall be, ex-officio post masters, and entitled to receive and open, at their respective ports, the mail bags hereinafter specified. The minister of the interior shall appoint some trustworthy and discreet person, residing conveniently, on each of the islands where no port of entry and departure is established. to be the post master thereof."

The act further provided for furnishing leather postal bags, setting up schedules for closing of mails, and posting of lists of mail received by the postmaster.

With the United States Post Office initiating a regular mail service by steamship between the east coast and California and Oregon, and a subsequent treaty between the U.S. and Hawaii (ratified August 9, 1850) in which an article provided for the safe transmission of the mails between the two countries, the Hawaiian government decided that the 1846 statute governing internal correspondence was insufficient to handle foreign mails. The Privy Council, therefore, passed a decree on December 20, 1850, and the 1851 Legislature enacted a law that established a Post Office in Honolulu (temporarily in the Polynesian Office). The Council appointed a Postmaster, Henry M. Whitney, and set up rates for remuneration to ships' captains for carrying the mails.

Inter-island mails were handled free of charge until 1859. One of the early controversies of the Post Office was the question of initiating postal fees for inter-island mail. Postmaster Whitney represented the view that mails should be kept free as native correspondence was steadily on the increase and initiating charges would exclude a large share of these native letter writers. The Minister of the Interior (1854 Report, p.7) agreed, and added that it was important to encourage native correspondence as it contributed "in some degree to the advancement of the nation in civilization." The next postmaster, J. Jackson, argued that the present system requiring ships to carry inter-island mails without compensation resulted in non-punctual delivery and questionable safety of the mails. He suggested adopting a small inter-island postage fee, with the revenue derived to go to the vessels carrying the mail. The legislature (Civil Code 1859) amended the acts of the Post Office and adopted postal rates for inter-island mail effective August 1, 1859. The Minister of the Interior Report of 1860, notes that despite mail charges correspondence between native Hawaiians did not stop. (p.2)

The first postage stamps were the "Missionaries" issued October 1, 1851. A great problem in the 1850's and 1860's was the frequent lack of stamps - post offices would run out (because they failed to order enough or to reorder soon enough), and the mail carriers often had difficulty giving change because of the lack of coins.

The legislature in 1854. passed an act "authorizing the appointment of mail carriers in the remote districts of the Kingdom." They neglected to provide appropriations to carry out the law, instead stating that the islands could use any surplus money from the police appropriation to implement the act. The only island with a surplus was Hawaii, and they set up a mail route from Kawaihae to Hilo through Hamakua in 1854.

In that same year, the Post Office was moved to Honolulu House. In 1870, the Post Office building at Merchant and Bethel streets was built and the post office remained there until May 1, 1922, when it relocated to the King and Richard street site in the newly constructed Federal Building.

Initially, the mails were forwarded between the United States and Hawaii, and between the islands, by sailing vessels. These trips, dependent on the inconsistencies of weather, caused many scheduling problems and resulted in irregular handling of mail. By 1862, the introduction of steam communication between the islands facilitated the movement of inter-island mails and improved the transmittal of mails between the U.S. and Hawaiʻi by rendering "their conveyance by sailing vessels more regular." (Minister of Interior Report, 1862, p.12) ''The installation of a subsidized line of mail steamers in 1867 probably furnished the impetus for the drawing up of the first formal postal treaty (May 4, 1870) between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States." (Hawaii, Its Stamps and Postal History, p.81) The treaty went into operation on July 1, 1870, and remained in effect until Hawaii became a member of the Universal Postal Union, January 1, 1882.

Within the islands, the number of mail carriers and mail routes increased. A passage in the 1884 Report of the Postmaster General describes the mail carriers and their work in an appeal for increased salaries.

"These men are all native Hawaiians, and as they have to be regular in their service, starting promptly in all kinds of weather, and must own relays of horses or mules, to be always ready in serviceable condition, they are justly entitled to what they are paid. Some of them have been in this service for fifteen or twenty years, and have seen the mails increase from a small number of letters and papers weekly, that hardly filled a pair of saddle bags, to eight or ten heavy sacks, requiring sometimes two extra pack animals to carry them over the rough mountains and through deep gulches and streams. On all the routes they leave and collect correspondence at the numerous houses and villages scattered near the road, and have become a great public convenience, indispensable for properly distributing the twenty thousand Hawaiian and foreign papers which our publishers and newsdealers claim that they issue every week." (p.6)

The introduction of steam vessels, making possible regular mail service between the islands, can account for part of the increase in internal mails. Another part can be attributed to the increase in daily, weekly and monthly publications. "When it is remembered that all island subscribers to these publications are entitled by law to receive their papers through the domestic mails free of postage, one cause of the increased use of mails will be discovered." (Report of the Postmaster General, 1884, p.13)

The 1882 Legislature enacted a law to authorize the Postmaster General to establish domestic and foreign Postal Money Order systems, and by May 1883, a domestic money order business had begun. International money orders between the U.S. and Hawaii date from January 1, 1884. (Minister of Interior Report, 1884, p.33)

A few years later, on July 1, 1887, the Post Office opened a Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank.

"The Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank was opened...as a branch of this bureau, and has proved a remarkable success, all classes availing themselves of its advantages. The principal post offices throughout the islands have been constituted branches of the bank service and have proved a convenience to country residents. and have turned in a quite a large aggregate of deposits." (Minister of Interior Report, 1888, p.88)

By 1897, the postal system had grown so large that it was no longer possible to close down the Honolulu Post Office in order to handle incoming overseas mail.

"Formerly everything was on the occasions in question subordinated to the handling of mails, but the community has long since outgrown the village style where that sort of thing was tolerable... The time has surely arrived... when every branch of the Postal Bureau should be completely segregated, having its staff confined strictly to its own peculiar duties." (Report of the Postmaster General, 1897, p.3-4)

With annexation and the Organic Act, the postal service of Hawaii was superseded by that of the United State, taking effect June 14, 1900.

Following is a list of the records in the Postmaster General files, as well as a list of postmasters through annexation.

Postmaster Generals
H.M. Whitney (December 22, 1850 - July 1, 1856)
J. Jackson (July 1, 1856 - August 14, 1859) (Jackson died August 14, 1859)
A.K. Clarke (August 27, 1859 - June 30, 1863)
David Kalakaua (June 30, 1863 - March 18, 1865)
A.P. Brickwood (March 18, 1865 - July 20, 1881)
John M. Kapena (July 20, 1881 - February 13, 1883)
H.M. Whitney (February 16, 1883 - April 15, 1886)
J.L. Kaulukou (April 15, 1886 - July 31, 1886)
Luther Aholo (July 31, 1886 - October 15, 1886)
F. Wundenberg (October 15, 1886 - May 2, 1891)
Walter Hill (May 2, 1891 - April 1, 1893)
Jos. M. Oat (April 1, 1893 - April 30, 1905)

Hawaiian Land Office

  • Corporate body
  • 1845-1895

In 1845, the Hawaiian Legislature enacted and Kamehameha III approved a series of acts that established the Executive Ministry. The Second Act, Part 1 created the Department of Interior and the Hawaiian Land Office.

It's successors were the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, the Commissioner of Public Lands, and the Land Management Division and later Land Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which continued this role into the 21st century.

Hawaiian Homes Commission Representative

  • Corporate body
  • 1936-1939

The U.S. Congress amended the 1920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, approved on July 26, 1935. One of the sections in the amendment called for a representative from the Interior Department, experienced in sanitation, rehabilitation, and reclamation work, to reside in Hawai‘i and cooperate with the Commission in carrying out its duties. George K. Larrison, a long-time resident of the islands, was appointed, effective January 1, 1936. Upon Mr. Larrison's retirement on June 30, 1939, the position was not filled.

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