Gov. David Ige is considering five nominees — including four graduates of the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law — to fill the First Circuit Court position vacant since the retirement of Circuit Judge Bert Ayabe last October.

What You Need To Know

  • The state’s Judicial Selection Commission investigated and evaluated the nominees before submitting the list of names to Ige Wednesday morning

  • The nominees include Harvey Demetrakopoulos, Timothy Ho, James Kawashima, Jordan Kimura and Rochelle Vidinha

  • Ige has until Sept. 23 to interview each nominee and make his appointment

  • Members of the public are invited to provide comments on the nominees at governor.hawaii.gov/contact-us/contact-the-governor

The state’s Judicial Selection Commission investigated and evaluated the nominees before submitting the list of names to Ige on Wednesday morning.

The nominees include Harvey Demetrakopoulos, Timothy Ho, James Kawashima, Jordan Kimura and Rochelle Vidinha.

Ige has until Sept. 23 to interview each nominee and make his appointment.

Demetrakopoulos is an attorney with Shim & Chang, AAL, ALC, where he specializes in person injury litigation. He holds a BA in history from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a juris doctorate from Richardson.

Ho is a per diem judge with the District Court of the First Circuit and previously worked as an associate attorney in private practice, served as chief deputy public defender, and helped with various positions at the Office of the Public Defender. He also worked as a lecturer and adjunct professor at the Richardson school of law. He did his undergraduate studies at Creighton University and earned his J.D. at Richardson.

Kawashima is a judge with the District Court of the First Circuit and previously served as a per diem judge with the District Court. He was also an attorney in private practice, chief instructor of the SAT program at Le Jardin Academy and Punahou School, and was an adjunct instructor with Kapiolani Community College’s paralegal program. He is a graduate of Princeton University and holds a J.D. from the University of Southern California.

Kimura is a partner with McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned a J.D. from Richardson.

Vidinha has served as deputy prosecuting attorney with the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney since 2001. She previously served with the Hawaii Paroling Authority under the Department of Public Safety. She earned a J.D. at Richardson.

Members of the public are invited to provide comments on the nominees at governor.hawaii.gov/contact-us/contact-the-governor/.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii.