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

The Judicial Selection Commission is pleased to announce a list of nominees for the judicial office of District Judge, District Court of the First Circuit (island of Oʻahu), State of Hawai`i.  The judicial office has been vacant since the elevation of former District Judge Kevin T. Morikone to the position of Circuit Judge of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit in December 2021.

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

• Russ S. Awakuni
• Harvey M. Demetrakopoulos
• Brandon K. Flores
• Timothy E. Ho
• Chastity T. Imamura
• John Alberto Montalbano
• Steven R. Nichols
• Rochelle I. Vidinha (Cusumano)

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

Statistics

• Total Applicants: 28; 15 Females; 13 Males
• Government Attorneys: 11
• Private Attorneys: 13
• Per Diem Judges: 6
• Other Occupation: 4
• Age Range: 3 (31-40); 10 (41-50); 12 (51-60); 3 (61-70)
• Years Licensed Range: 5 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.