Report Title:

Public Employment; Residency Requirements

Description:

Removes the requirement that applicants for state or county public employment must be a resident of Hawaii at the time of application.  Allows the director of a jurisdiction to waive the "residency during employment" requirements for positions within that jurisdiction.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1971
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to public employment.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  Section 78-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:

     "(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 [residents of] shall establish residency in the State [at the time of] within thirty days after their [application for] employment and as a condition of eligibility for continued employment.

     "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 [permanent] primary residence.  [In determining this intent, the following factors shall be considered:

(1) Maintenance of a domicile or permanent place of residence in the State;

(2) Absence of residency in another state; and

(3) Former residency in the State.

This subsection's requirement for state residency shall not apply to applicants for police officer positions; provided that upon employment, the police officer shall establish residency as a condition of continued employment as a police officer.]

     (d)  The [appointing authority] director, as defined in section 76‑11, may approve the appointment of persons within the respective director's jurisdiction, without consideration of the [requirements] residency requirement under subsection (c) when [services] the appointment is essential to the public interest [require], such as when the person possesses highly specialized technical and scientific skills or knowledge or when the appointment is for critical-to-fill and labor shortage positions."

     SECTION 2.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.

INTRODUCED BY:

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