Oahu judge to hear Kenoi case

HILO — An Oahu judge will hear the theft case of Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi.

The state Judiciary announced Tuesday that state Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald has temporarily re-assigned Honolulu Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario to preside over the trial of the county’s chief executive, who was indicted March 23 by a Hilo grand jury on two counts each of second- and third-degree theft, three counts of tampering with a government record, and a single count of making a false statement under oath.

All of the Big Island’s state judges have recused themselves from hearing the case.

Kenoi, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, has a July 18 court date in Hilo.

The charges follow a yearlong probe by the state attorney general’s office into Kenoi’s use of a county credit card known as a purchasing card, or pCard. The investigation started after West Hawaii Today first reported Kenoi used his pCard to pay an $892 tab at a Honolulu hostess bar.

Other personal items charged were a surfboard, bicycle, campaign expenses and bar association fees. In total, the mayor made almost $130,000 in charges on the card by the time the hostess bar charge came to light.

Kenoi reimbursed the county for $31,112.59, about $9,500 of it after both Big Island newspapers published stories examining his pCard use.

The most serious offenses, two counts of second-degree theft, are Class C felonies that each carry a possible five-year prison term and $10,000 fine upon conviction. The other charges are misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors.