The Honolulu Police Commission could hire the next chief from outside Hawaii under either of two measures that were advanced last week at the Legislature.

Current law requires that all appointed state or county department heads and deputy or assistant heads be residents of Hawaii for at least a year. The only exception is for job positions that require “highly specialized or scientific knowledge and training” — when a qualified applicant cannot be found locally.

There is similar language in the Hawaii Constitution, which provides a specific exemption for the position of University of Hawaii president.

House Bill 1534 would remove the one-year residency requirement for all appointed police officers throughout the state and counties. Senate Bill 1298 would remove the one-year requirement only for county police chiefs.

Both bills were approved in their originating legislative houses Tuesday, and now will cross over to the other chamber for consideration. The commission testified in support of both measures, while the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers opposed them.

The Police Commission ran its first ad for the chief’s job in Sunday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Louis Kea‑ loha formally left the $182,088-a-year post March 1 under an agreement reached with the commission.

The city is running advertisements for the vacancy in the Star-Advertiser, several national law enforcement publications and online later this week. Applications must be received or postmarked no later than April 3, commission Executive Director Dan Lawrence said March 6.

Police Commission Chairman Max Sword testified in favor of both measures. Commission members want to ensure there is as broad a pool of qualified candidates as possible and don’t care which of the bills passes, Sword told the Star-Advertiser last week.

The commission has already received a query from “a local boy that’s up on the mainland now” who would not be eligible to be Honolulu chief under the current state law, he said.

There is no strong preference to select someone from either within or outside HPD, Sword said.

“We just want to broaden the field to see who’s out there,” he said, noting that hiring and firing the chief is considered the main duty of the seven-member commission.

In January 2015 Gov. David Ige withdrew his nomination of Elizabeth Kim as labor secretary after the Star-Advertiser pointed out the little-known law to the administration. Kim was an appointee of then-President Barack Obama, working for the U.S. Department of Labor out of Washington, D.C. Kim was not born in Hawaii, but spent her intermediate and high school years here.

Honolulu parks Director Michele Nekota held the same position in Salt Lake City for 28 years until she retired just prior to joining Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration in 2014. City spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said Nekota’s residency requirement was waived by the mayor, as the appointing authority, given the specialized qualifications for the department director’s position. He added that Nekota was born and raised here and spent ample time in Hawaii caring for an ill relative in the time leading up to her appointment by Caldwell.

In 2009, when Kealoha was chosen by the commission, four of 13 shortlist chief candidates and two of the final six were mainland residents. That indicates the commission was unaware of the law as well.

SHOPO President Tenari Ma’afala, in written testimony on the bill, said there is no shortage of qualified candidates available locally, and he pointed to the long string of chiefs that came from within HPD’s ranks.

“Authorizing applicants that have not been residents for one year creates a steep learning curve of Hawaii’s culture, and also of Hono‑ lulu’s policing needs and strengths,” Ma’afala said. “It takes time to build working relationships with other departments (and) agencies, and to create relationships with community groups.”

The Police Commission hopes to have a new chief selected by the end of summer. Deputy Chief Cary Okimoto has been serving as acting chief since Kealoha placed himself on paid leave in December after learning he was the target of a federal criminal investigation involving corruption and civil rights violations.

The commission’s announcement that it is beginning to accept applications is online from today at honolulupd.org and honolulu.gov, as well the website of the International Association of Chiefs of Police at iacp.org.