PART I.
DEPARTMENT, GENERALLY
§28-1 Appears for State. The attorney
general shall appear for the State personally or by deputy, in all the courts
of record, in all cases criminal or civil in which the State may be a party, or
be interested, and may in like manner appear in the district courts in such
cases. [L 1866, p 16; RL 1925, §1486; RL 1935, §500; RL 1945, §1501; RL 1955,
§30-1; HRS §28-1; am L 1969, c 175, §13; am L 1989, c 230, §1]
Cross References
District courts as courts of record, see §604-17.
Functions generally, see §26-7.
Attorney General Opinions
Authority to bring action against public officers, in the
public interest. Att. Gen. Op. 68‑26.
Case Notes
Office of attorney general first constituted in 1846, history
of the office under the Kingdom. 6 H. 718, 728 (single justice); 8 H. 572.
Performance of functions by another temporarily. Early cases: See 8 H. 521,
compare 3 H. 669, 5 H. 59.
Accountability for acts: 6 H. 718 (will not be held in
contempt for refusing to prosecute, decision of single justice); 12 H. 124,
128-30; 26 H. 570 (liability to disbarment or suspension of government attorney
for misconduct in administration of office); 21 H. 539, 549 (liability to
damages); 23 H. 362 (liability to damages).
Criminal cases, prosecution by county prosecuting officers
under authority of attorney general. 16 H. 769, 779‑80; 19 H. 162; 26 H. 570.
Charitable trusts, functions in connection with. 33 H. 647;
36 H. 250; 36 H. 334; 37 H. 111, 116.
Scope of functions as parens patriae of charitable trusts.
54 H. 299, 507 P.2d 724.
Section is irrelevant and attorney general is without
standing as party to rate proceeding before PUC. 54 H. 663, 513 P.2d 1376.
Attorney general may represent a state employee in a civil
action while prosecuting the same employee in a criminal matter. 71 H. 598,
801 P.2d 548.
Cited: 18 H. 76.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
10
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1973–2025 · leading case:
Ching v. Case, 449 P.3d 1146 (Haw. 2019).
Ching v. Case, 449 P.3d 1146 (Haw. 2019).
· cites it 6× “This court held that a distinction exists between, on the one hand, the AG’s duty under HRS § 28-1 (1993)34 and the common law to represent the State in furtherance of the public interest as the AG deems it to be, and on the other hand, the AG’s duty under HRS § 26-7 to serve as…”
Rees v. Carlisle, 153 P.3d 1131 (Haw. 2007).
· cites it 2× “” HRS § 28-1 provides, among other things, that the attorney general shall appear for the State personally or by deputy, in all cases criminal in which the State may be a party or be interested.”
Chun v. Bd. of Trs., 952 P.2d 1215 (Haw. 1998).
· cites it 4× “in all cases criminal or civil in which the State may be a party, or be interested,” HRS § 28-1 (1993); (2) to “be vigilant and active in detecting offenders against the laws of the State, and [to] prosecute the same with diligence,” HRS § 28-2 (1993); (3) to “investigate…”
Soderlund v. Admin. Dir. of the Courts, 26 P.3d 1214 (Haw. 2001).
· cites it 2× “which are enforceable in the courts of the State”) and HRS § 28-1 (1993) (providing that “[l]he attorney general shall appear for tire State' personally or by deputy, in all the courls of record, in all cases criminal or civil in which the State may be a party, or be interested,…”
State v. Klattenhoff, 801 P.2d 548 (Haw. 1990).
· cites it 2× “HRS § 28-1 (Supp. 1989). Thus, the AG was clearly mandated by law to both defend appellant in his civil suits and prosecute him in the criminal action.”
In Re Hawaiian Tel. Co., 513 P.2d 1376 (Haw. 1973).
· cites it 4× “HRS § 28-1 and § 661-10 are not pertinent to the question.”
Marsland v. First Hawaiian Bank, 764 P.2d 1228 (Haw. 1988).
· cites it 2× “2d 1126, 1129 (1981); HRS §§ 28-1 and -2. The Attorney General, however, has delegated to the county prosecutors the primary authority and responsibility for initiating and conducting criminal prosecutions within their respective county jurisdictions.”
Honolulu Civil Beat Inc. v. Dep't of the Attorney Gen.., 463 P.3d 942 (Haw. 2020).
· cites it 2× “See HRS §§ 28-1 (requirement to appear for the State in all cases in which it is a party), 28-3 (requirement to give written opinions upon questions of law submitted by state officials, including the legislature and legislators), 28-4 (requirement to give advice and counsel to…”
State v. Miles, 354 P.3d 178 (Haw. App. 2015).
· cites it 2× “” Further, Exodus references HRS § 28-1 (2009) regarding the matters in which the Attorney General appears and which provides that “[t]he attorney general shall appear for the State personally or by deputy, in all the courts of record, in all cases criminal or civil in which the…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.