Hawaiʻi County’s volunteer Board of Ethics has been limping along, missing meetings, operating with unfilled seats and working without dedicated staff. The result is slower advisory opinions and a thinner layer of basic oversight, even as county business keeps stacking up.
Meetings keep getting canceled
The board has canceled at least six regular monthly meetings since 2024 because it did not have a quorum. At least one member missed every meeting in 2025, three of the seven seats stayed vacant, and the board needs four members present to conduct official business. Volunteers and watchdogs say those absences have led to months-long waits for routine ethics advice, leaving potential conflicts sitting unresolved, according to Honolulu Civil Beat.
Permitted interaction group and the schedule
County public records show the board created a permitted interaction group in November 2024 to revise its rules. By later in 2025, that group had lost members and no longer had its own quorum. The same public inspection packet also includes the board’s 2026 meeting calendar, which lists a meeting set for April 10, 2026, according to Hawaiʻi County.
Tiny budget, no staff
Hawaiʻi County budgeted $8,470 for the Board of Ethics in 2025 but spent only about $920. The proposed 2026 allocation is roughly $9,270, a sliver of the county’s nearly $966 million operating budget. The board has no paid executive director and no dedicated staff to manage disclosures or field informal questions, a gap that can turn even simple ethics inquiries into a slow, volunteer-only slog. That lean staffing and small line item were detailed by Honolulu Civil Beat.
Maui offers a contrast
On Maui, voters approved a 2024 charter amendment that allows that county’s board to hire full-time staff. Maui now has an executive director and support personnel in place and a 2026 budget of about $258,044. Board leaders there report that having paid staff lets volunteers focus on policy work, speed up advisory opinions and spend more time on proactive rulemaking, according to Maui County.
Real-world consequences
The delays are not just a paperwork problem. County minutes show Council Chair Holeka Inaba filed a petition asking whether free meals provided by the Kohala Coast Resort Association have to be reported as gifts. The board took months to decide that meals valued at more than $100 should be disclosed. Those minutes, part of the public docket, show how everyday ethics questions can sit in limbo when there is no staff to triage cases; they are available through Hawaiʻi County.
Where it goes from here
The board’s 2026 calendar still lists a meeting on April 10, and the county’s boards and commissions page lists current members along with a contact for public testimony. Local watchdogs and some commissioners argue that filling vacant seats and making a relatively modest investment in staff could turn what is now an overloaded volunteer panel into a functioning ethics office and help rebuild public trust. Membership and calendar details are posted by Hawaiʻi County.
