Under the Constitution of the State of Hawai`i, Article VI, Appointment of Justices and Judges, Section 3: “The governor, with the consent of the senate, shall fill a vacancy in the office of the chief justice, supreme court, intermediate appellate court and circuit courts, by appointing a person from a list of not less than four, and not more than six, nominees for the vacancy, presented to the governor by the judicial selection commission.”

The Judicial Selection Commission is pleased to announce a list of nominees for the judicial vacancy of Circuit Judge, Circuit Court of the First Circuit (island of Oʻahu), State of Hawai`i.  The judicial office has been vacant since the retirement of Circuit Judge Bert I. Ayabe in October 2021.

The list of nominees selected by the Commission to fill the vacancy for the judicial office of Circuit Judge in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit are listed as follows in alphabetical order:

• Harvey M. Demetrakopoulos
• Timothy E. Ho
• James S. Kawashima
• Jordon J. Kimura
• Rochelle I. Vidinha (Cusumano)

The Governor has 30 days from his receipt of the list today to make his appointment.

Statistics

• Total Applicants:  15; 5 Females; 10 Males
• Government Attorneys:  7
• Private Attorneys:  5
• Per Diem Judges:  1
• Judges:  1
• Other:  2
• Age Range:  1 (31-40); 5 (41-50); 7 (51-60); 2 (61-70)
• Years Licensed Range:  13 years to 37 years

1 Applicant withdrew before meeting with the Judicial Selection Commission and is not included in the statistics above

**Meetings held and decisions made in July 2022 with 7 Commissioners present.

Vacancy advertised for a total of 90 days