(a) All elective officers in the service of the government of the State or any county shall be citizens of the United States and residents of the State for at least three years immediately preceding assumption of office.
Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 78-1
All others appointed in the service of the government of the State or in the service of any county or municipal subdivision of the State shall be residents of the State at the time of their appointment and:
(1) Citizens, nationals, or permanent resident aliens of the United States; or
(2) Eligible under federal law for unrestricted employment in the United States.
A national or permanent resident alien appointee shall not be eligible for continued employment unless such person diligently seeks citizenship upon becoming eligible to apply for United States citizenship.
(c) All persons seeking employment with the government of the State or in the service of any county shall be citizens, nationals, or permanent resident aliens of the United States, or eligible under federal law for unrestricted employment in the United States, and shall become residents of the State within thirty days after beginning their employment and as a condition of eligibility for continued employment; provided that bona fide military service members’ dependents shall be exempt from the requirement to become residents if the dependents are in the State by virtue of the military service members’ orders.
For purposes of this subsection:
“Dependent”, with respect to a service member, means the service member’s spouse, child who is under the age of eighteen years, or an individual for whom the service member provided more than one-half of the individual’s financial support for one hundred eighty days immediately preceding an application for an exemption under this section.
“Resident” means a person who is physically present in the State at the time the person claims to have established the person’s domicile in the State and shows the person’s intent is to make Hawaii the person’s primary residence.
(d) The appointing authority may approve the appointment of persons without consideration of the requirements under subsection (c) when services essential to the public interest require highly specialized technical and scientific skills or knowledge for critical-to-fill and labor shortage positions.
(e) For the positions involved in the performance of services in planning and executing measures for the security of Hawaii and the United States, the employees shall be citizens of the United States in addition to meeting the requirement of residency in subsection (c).
(f) This section shall not apply to persons recruited by the University of Hawaii under the authority of section [304A-1001].
