Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 28-4 (2026)

Advises public officers

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section HI-LEGcapitol.hawaii.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§28-4 Advises public officers. The attorney general shall, without charge, at all times when called upon, give advice and counsel to the heads of departments, district judges, and other public officers, in all matters connected with their public duties, and otherwise aid and assist them in every way requisite to enable them to perform their duties faithfully. [L 1866, p 17; RL 1925, §1489; RL 1935, §503; RL 1945, §1504; RL 1955, §30-4; am L 1963, c 85, §3; HRS §28-4; am L 1970, c 188, §39; gen ch 1993]

Case Notes

Early cases: 15 H. 718; see also 12 H. 124.

Attorney general has affirmative duty to provide counsel for judges being sued in their official capacities. 57 H. 284, 554 P.2d 1128.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1976–2020 · leading case: Hussey v. Say., 384 P.3d 1282 (Haw. 2016).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Hussey v. Say., 384 P.3d 1282 (Haw. 2016). · cites it 2× “Citing HRS § 28-4 (2009), Appellants explain that the Attorney General is tasked to “give advice and counsel to the heads of departments, district judges, and other public officers, in all matters connected with them public duties, and otherwise aid and assist them in every way…”

In Re Water Use Permit Applications, 9 P.3d 409 (Haw. 2000). · cites it 2× “See HRS § 26-7 (1993) (attorney general “shall administer and render state legal services”); HRS § 28-4 (1993) (attorney general “shall give advice and counsel”).”

In re Contested Case Hearing re Conservation Dist. Use Application, 431 P.3d 752 (Haw. 2018). · cites it 2× “Therefore, even if the DAGs represented the BLNR in an adversarial position as to whether to confer trespassing charges to county prosecutors regarding Mauna Kea protests, the adversarial representation was not with respect to whether a CDUP should have been authorized after the…”

Honolulu Civil Beat Inc. v. Dep't of the Attorney Gen.., 463 P.3d 942 (Haw. 2020). · cites it 7× “The court first stated that HRS § 26-7 (2009) “authorizes the Department to render legal services to the State legislature”6 and that HRS § 28-4 (2009) “requires that the 4 HRS § 92F-15(b) provides: In an action to compel disclosure, .”

'O Haleakalâ v. Bd. of Land & Nat. Resources, 382 P.3d 195 (Haw. 2016). · cites it 2× “See HRS § 28-4 (2009) (providing die attorney general shall "give advice and counsel to the heads of departments, district judges, and other public officers, in all matters connected with their public duties, and otherwise aid and assist them in every way requisite to enable…”

Chun v. Bd. of Trs., 952 P.2d 1215 (Haw. 1998). · cites it 2× “other public officers, in all matters connected with their public duties, and otherwise [to] aid and assist them,” HRS § 28-4 (1993). With respect to the “[e]mployment of attorneys” by state governmental instrumen-talities, HRS § 28-8.”

Sapienza v. Heen, 554 P.2d 1128 (Haw. 1976). · cites it 4× “HRS § 28-4 clearly states that the Attorney General shall give legal counsel to “the heads of departments, magistrates, and other public officers, in all matters connected with their public duties .”

In re Contested Case Hearing re Conservation Dist. Use Application, 143 Haw. 379 (Haw. 2018). · cites it 2× “” HRS § 28-4 (1993). The DAGs had a duty to advise the BLNR with respect to legal issues regarding possible conferral of trespassing charges to county prosecutors.”

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.