§304A-104  Regents; appointment; tenure;
qualifications; meetings.  (a)  The affairs of the university shall be
under the general management and control of the board of regents consisting of fifteen
members who shall be appointed and may be removed by the governor.  Except as
otherwise provided by law, state officers shall be eligible for appointment and
membership.  The term of each member shall be five years, except as provided
for the initial appointment in section 26-11; provided that the term of the student
member shall be two years.  Every member may serve beyond the expiration date
of the member's term of appointment until the member's successor has been
appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate in accordance with
article X, section 6 of the Hawaii Constitution.  Members shall serve no more
than two consecutive five-year terms; provided that the members who are
initially appointed to terms of two years or less pursuant to section 26-11(a)
may be reappointed to two ensuing five-year terms.  If a member is to be
appointed to a second term of five years, the senate shall consider the
question of whether to reconfirm the member at least one hundred twenty days
prior to the conclusion of a member's first five-year term; provided that if
the senate is not in session within one hundred twenty days prior to the
conclusion of the member's first five-year term, the member shall continue to
serve until the senate convenes for the next regular session or the next
special session for which the senate is authorized to consider the question of
reconfirmation.



(b)  At its first meeting after June 30, the
board of regents shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson, who shall
serve until adjournment of its first meeting after June 30 of the next year or
thereafter until their successors are appointed.  The board shall appoint a
secretary, who shall not be a member of the board.  The president of the
university shall act as executive officer of the board.  From May 1, 2007 and
until such time that the board of regents has at least fourteen members, seven
members of the board of regents shall constitute a quorum to conduct business,
and the concurrence of at least seven members of the board of regents shall be
necessary to make any action of the board of regents valid; provided that upon
filling at least fourteen of the fifteen board of regents seats required under
subsection (a), a majority of the board of regents shall constitute a quorum to
conduct business, and the concurrence of a majority of all the members to which
the board of regents is entitled shall be necessary to make any action of the
board of regents valid.  The board shall meet at least ten times annually and,
from time to time, may meet in each of the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai.



(c)  The governor shall notify the regents
candidate advisory council in writing within ten days of receiving notification
that a member of the board of regents is resigning, has died, or is being
removed by the governor.



(d)  The members of the board of regents shall
serve without pay but shall be entitled to their travel expenses within the State
when attending meetings of the board or when actually engaged in business
relating to the work of the board. [L 2006, c 75, pt of §2; am L 2007, c 56, §4;
am L Sp 2008, c 9, §3]



 



Revision Note



 



  "May 1, 2007" substituted for "the effective
date of this Act".



 



Cross References



 



  Boards, generally, see §26-34.



 



Case Notes



 



  Respondent's application of the holdover provision of
subsection (a) to the six regents whose terms had expired contravened Session
Laws of Hawaii 2007, Act 56, §§1 and 5 and was contrary to the modified
appointment process for regents prescribed by the Hawaii constitution, article
X, §6.  119 H. 341, 198 P.3d 604.



  The governor's nondiscretionary duty -- pursuant to the
Hawaii constitution, article X, §6, §304A-104.5(e) and subsection (a) -- to
nominate and appoint members of the board of regents of the university of
Hawaii, is subject to a reasonable time standard; reasonable time is judged by the
totality of the circumstances; the passage of nearly ten months since the
governor was presented with the regent candidate list was an unreasonable
period of time for the governor to perform this constitutional and statutory
duty and the governor was thus subject to mandamus.  119 H. 341, 198 P.3d 604.