A Honolulu judge ruled last week that closed-door meetings of a state House of Representatives committee that were held prior to the 2025 legislative session violated the Hawaii Constitution.

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A Honolulu judge ruled last week that closed-door meetings of a state House of Representatives committee that were held prior to the 2025 legislative session violated the Hawaii Constitution.

First Circuit Judge James Ashford on Friday ruled that a House Advisory Committee on Rules and Procedures meeting on Jan. 2, 2025, violated Article 3, Section 12 of the state Constitution, which states: “Every meeting of a committee in either house or of a committee comprised of a member or members from both houses held for the purpose of making decision(s) on matters referred to the committee shall be open to the public.”

Committee meetings “held to decide such matters shall be open. The meeting at issue was not,” Ashford wrote in his order.

The assertion that the closed meeting was unconstitutional was made in a lawsuit brought by an ad hoc group including former state Sen. Laura Acasio of Hilo, who filed the suit as a private citizen two days before assuming a position in the administration of Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda as administrator of the Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience.

The other plaintiffs in the case are Tanya Yamanaka Aynessazian, Douglas L. Cobeen, Karen K. Cobeen, Michaela Ilikeamoana Ikeuchi and Robert Hale Pahia — all Hawaii County residents; Ka‘apuniali‘ionalaniki‘eki‘e Kanaloa Aiwohi of Maui; and Sergio Josephus Alcubilla III of Honolulu.

Each plaintiff is described in the suit as “a registered voter” who “would have attended the House committee meeting if it had been open to the public.”

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“The victory is a victory not just for the plaintiffs, but for every resident of the state of Hawaii who expect open and accountable government and the Legislature to follow the Constitution,” Acasio told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday. “It’s huge to have the court ruling that when the Legislature is making decisions that shape how the people’s business is conducted, that the people have the right to be present.

“I think the court (decided) that transparency is not optional, that it’s a foundational part of public trust as is written in the Constitution.”

Ashford, however, denied the plaintiffs’ claims that the meeting violated Chapter 92 of Hawaii Revised Statutes. The Legislature exempted itself from the first part of HRS 92, the open-meetings law also known as the “Sunshine Law.”

The judge also denied a House motion for summary judgment, which would’ve closed the case in the legislative body’s favor.

When asked for comment, House Speaker Nadine Nakamura referred the Tribune-Herald to the Department of the Attorney General, which said it is still “reviewing the court’s order.”

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Email John Burnett at [email protected].