The Judicial Selection Commission has announced its list of nominees for the position of Chief Judge in the Intermediate Court of Appeals, State of Hawaiʻi. This vacancy arose following former Chief Judge Lisa M. Ginoza's elevation to Associate Justice of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court in January 2024.
According to the Constitution of the State of Hawaiʻi, Article VI, Appointment of Justices and Judges, Section 3: “The governor, with the consent of the senate, shall fill a vacancy in the office of the chief justice, supreme court, intermediate appellate court and circuit courts, by appointing a person from a list of not less than four, and not more than six, nominees for the vacancy, presented to the governor by the judicial selection commission.”
The list provided by the Commission includes five nominees:
- James H. Ashford
- Lance D. Collins
- Daniel M. Gluck
- Nickolas A. Kacprowski
- Karen T. Nakasone
Governor has 30 days from receipt of this list to make his appointment.
A total of eight individuals applied for this judicial position: three females and five males. Among them were two government attorneys, three private attorneys, three judges, and one per diem judge. The applicants' ages ranged from 41 to 70 years old and they have been licensed between 10 to 36 years.
The recruitment process lasted for 255 days and involved meetings held in March 2025 with eight commissioners present. Two applicants withdrew before public comment was solicited and before meeting with the Commission; they are not included in these statistics.