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Hawaii County liquor control department finalizes department travel policy to take effect July 1
Summary
The Department of Liquor Control told the council its internal travel policy incorporates three audit recommendations and will take effect July 1, 2025; the county auditor and council asked that the Board of Ethics and the commission sign or re-sign the policy and that a signed copy be provided to the council.
The Department of Liquor Control told the Communication Reports and Council Oversight Committee on May 20 that it has implemented three recommendations from a recent county audit and will put a department-level travel policy into effect on July 1, 2025.
Brandon Gonzalez, administrative officer for the Department of Liquor Control, said, "The audit provided 3 recommendations to the department and, the department has implemented all 3 recommendations." Gonzalez told the committee the policy includes a department-level travel policy (developed from an auditor template), a need- and role-based prioritization framework for travel, and reinstated Sunshine Law and ethics training for board members and staff.
The council sought clarification on how the policy takes effect and whether the department’s adjudication board, the commission and the Board of Ethics had signed off. Gonzalez said the commission reviewed the policy at a May 1 public meeting and had no objections; he said the board that adjudicates liquor violations does not meet monthly and had not yet signed. "Not yet. But when we do, we can share that with you folks," Gonzalez told the committee when asked whether a signed copy was available.
Tyler Benner, county auditor, reminded the committee of a Board of Ethics finding tied to the policy. Benner said the Board of Ethics had recommended that the department take the policy before both the board and the commission for signatures, and that the department return to those bodies for new signatures if the policy is subsequently changed. "When the Board of Ethics issued their opinion on it, they said that you should take this in front of the commission and the board. They should sign off on it and then if there's any changes being made to it, that they should again take it before those bodies and get a new signature," Benner said.
Committee members asked how the policy will be stored and enforced. Gonzalez said the department will keep the policy in its administrative files and that the fiscal/HR assistant will maintain the physical copy and compliance tracking. The committee chair said the commission could request status updates (for example during the department’s annual review) to check compliance.
The committee voted to close file on Communication 178.2. Councilmember Honeko Goro Inaba moved to close the file; Councilmember Kerkowitz seconded. The motion carried and the committee recorded the communication as closed.
The committee requested the signed policy once available and thanked the auditor and department staff for acting on the audit recommendations.
