Bennett calls residency
issue an ‘open question’

The attorney general says the
requirements have never been
definitely justified

Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett says he believes the state's residency requirements for most state and county jobs are constitutional, although he acknowledges that the issue has not been definitively decided by the courts.

"We're going to defend it ... but it is clearly an open question in the United States Supreme Court," Bennett said this week. "We are going to defend the constitutionality of the statute."

A state law and a hiring policy adopted by the City and County of Honolulu based on the statute are being challenged in federal court by a Florida man who says his applications to three city jobs were rejected solely because he is not a legal resident of Hawaii.

Kevin R. Walsh's lawsuit contends the residency requirements -- which have been adopted by all four counties -- are unconstitutional and penalize nonresidents.

The law requires applicants for most state and county jobs to be current or former Hawaii residents at the time they apply.

It has been challenged at the state level before but was never ruled on.

Walsh's lawsuit cites a case from the 1980s in which the state sued the administration of then-Mayor Frank Fasi to enforce a provision that requires at least one year of residence in Hawaii for appointees to department head positions.

The administration argued that the residency requirement violated the federal and Hawaii constitutions, according to Walsh's lawsuit, which cites similar arguments in his case.

The Hawaii Supreme Court dismissed the Fasi administration case in 1986 without ruling on it, saying the issue was moot because by then the appointee had fulfilled all residency requirements.

Attorneys for Walsh are scheduled to meet next week with attorneys from Bennett's office and the City and County of Honolulu to discuss the case.