AO 94-3.

• Case Date: June 22, 1994
• Court: Hawaii

Hawaii Ethics Opinion 1994. AO 94-3. Adv Op 94-3ADVISORY OPINION NO. 94-3The Honorable Bertrand Kobayashi Senator State Office Tower, Room 401 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813Dear Senator Kobayashi: This advisory opinion is issued to you in response to your letter of March 17, 1994. In your letter, you asked for confirmation of the advice provided to you over the telephone on February 25, 1994. On that date, you telephoned this office and stated that you and other legislators had attended a sit-down dinner sponsored by The Retail Merchants of Hawaii, an association under the umbrella of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce. You stated that you were invited to this dinner in your official capacity as a legislator and that you attended in your official capacity as a legislator. You went on to say that during the course of the dinner, a drawing was held for door prizes. Your name was drawn, and the door prize was two round-trip airline tickets to a neighbor island together with overnight accommodations while on the neighbor island. You added that you had not yet received the tickets or other specific information about the door prize, but you estimated the total value of the door prize to exceed $200. The question you posed to us in February was whether section 84-11.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes ("HRS"), the gifts disclosure law, required you to disclose the door prize. Whenever the State Ethics Commission is asked for advice, it is guided in its interpretation of the law by standards set forth in both the Constitution of the State of Hawaii and in the State Ethics Code, chapter 84, HRS. Article XIV, entitled "Code of Ethics," of the State Constitution begins with a profound declaration that the "people of Hawaii believe that public officers and employees must exhibit the highest standards of ethical conduct" (emphasis added). Article XIV goes on to direct the Legislature to adopt a code of ethics for elected officials and employees of the State of Hawaii. In response to this constitutional directive, the Legislature adopted chapter 84, HRS, the State Ethics Code. The Legislature incorporated into the State Ethics Code section 84-1, HRS, which provides that the State Ethics Code "shall be liberally construed to promote high standards of ethical conduct in state government" (emphasis added). The Legislature included this provision in the State...