Legislature of the Territory of Hawai‘i

Corporate body

Legislature of the Territory of Hawai‘i

1901-1959

The last legislature of the Republic of Hawaii adjourned sine die on July 7, 1898. Annexation of Hawaii to the United States followed quickly, but the Organic Act, which established the Government for the Territory of Hawaii, did not take effect until June 14, 1900. Consequently, Hawaii was without a formal legislative body until the First Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives, whose members were elected in November 1900, convened, as specified in the Organic Act, on February 20, 1901. The first Senate was made up of 15 members from 4 Senatorial Districts; the House of Representatives had 30 members from 6 Representative Districts. The Organic Act also enumerated the powers of the Legislature, the qualifications of the legislators and the lengths of legislative sessions; and it required, inter alia, that all proceedings be in English. The Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii met in 30 regular biennial sessions, 13 special sessions and 3 extra sessions between 1901 and 1959.

Hawai‘i

In these sessions, the legislature organized itself into several standing and special committees which carried on the work of hearing testimony, investigating claims, evaluating bills and resolutions, etc. In addition, the legislature occasionally created, usually by joint resolution, holdover committees, to meet between legislative sessions, investigate specific situations or pursue matters which were not dealt with completely during regular and special sessions, and report their findings and recommendations at the succeeding session.

The 30th and last Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii, which, pursuant to a change to the Organic Act that went into effect for the 1958 election, consisted of 25 Senators from 6 Senatorial Districts and 52 Representatives from 18 Representative Districts, adjourned for the last time on May 2, 1959. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th State of the United States of America.

Revised Laws of Hawai‘i

Hawaii State Legislature (1959-)

Legislature of the Republic of Hawai‘i (1894-1898)

Hawaiʻi State Archives

• English

2020-09-04, Carol Kellett: Entered into AtoM.