Hawaii residents make up a distinct community, one guided by cultural and environmental differences that require some time to recognize and grasp. That’s the intent behind a longstanding state law seeking to ensure that those in top administrative roles know well the community they are serving.

But there’s a clear downside to this hiring restriction: Some good candidates for top jobs can be overlooked. The time has come for the state to rethink this restriction and open the hiring doors a bit wider.

At the heart of the discussion over two pieces of legislation is a statutory requirement that all appointed state or county department heads and deputy or assistant heads be residents of Hawaii for at least a year. There is an exemption for posts demanding “highly specialized or scientific knowledge and training” that can’t be filled locally, and for the University of Hawaii.

House Bill 1534 would remove that requirement; passing this version would seem the most logical fix, given that there are exemptions already on the books. However, Senate Bill 1298 would exempt only county police chiefs.

That’s due to a push from the Honolulu Police Commission, which is conducting a search to replace retired Honolulu Police Department Chief Louis Kealoha. The panel would like to cast a wider net to fill the post, paying $182,088 annually.

Its chairman, Max Sword, testified in favor of both measures, saying the commission wants to be sure there is the widest selection of candidates possible when it makes its decision.

It’s hard to find fault with that position, even given the importance of local knowledge where policing is concerned.

But the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, the police union, voiced strong opposition to the bills, citing just this key point.

“Authorizing applicants that have not been residents for one year creates a steep learning curve of Hawaii’s culture, and also of Honolulu’s policing needs and strengths,” SHOPO President Tenari Ma’afala said in prepared testimony. “It takes time to build working relationships with other departments, agencies, and to create relationships with community groups.”

That is certainly true, but there are potential candidates who have community knowledge without the strict one-year residency requirement. In particular, there are those who were born in Hawaii or otherwise have deep community experience in the islands but who moved away to pursue job opportunities elsewhere.

Given how the cost of living in Hawaii erodes the compensation package of top administrators, it’s easy to see how that happens.

It isn’t only within the police force that the issue arises. Michele Nekota returned to Hawaii to take over as Honolulu parks director after holding the same position in Salt Lake City for 28 years. Surely, both her local knowledge and her Utah experience prepared her for the job, which she got because it was deemed one requiring specialized qualifications.

Due to the underway recruitment for the police post, however, the issue before the Legislature is especially sensitive at HPD. Nationally there’s been an intense focus on the principles of “community policing” — the need to build a strong relationship with the community in order to build trust.

There have been several flash points in the news over recent years, community-police violence that sadly illustrates the repercussions where this trust is lacking.

But Hawaii is a place that draws local people home again. Already, Sword said, the police commission has heard from “a local boy that’s up on the mainland now,” who is ineligible due to the current law.

Local knowledge is an important factor for top government jobs — but it can be fulfilled along with another key criterion: administrative experience. There is no reason Hawaii shouldn’t look for both.