Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho has appointed Mauna Kea Trask as the new county attorney.
If confirmed by the Kauai County Council, Trask would replace Al Castillo Jr., who is returning to private practice.
The newly elected Council is expected to consider Trask’s nomination at its inaugural meeting Monday.
Last year, Trask wrote a legal opinion that led Carvalho to veto a bill to regulate the use of pesticides and growth of genetically modified crops by large commercial agribusinesses. Trask said the bill was legally flawed.
The Council overrode the mayor’s veto, which became Ordinance 960.
In August a federal judge — for the same reasons cited in Trask’s opinion — ruled the county law was pre-empted by state and federal law. The ruling sought by seed companies invalidated Ordinance 960.
Appeals on the federal court’s decision were filed in September by the county and four nonprofit organizations.
Before joining the county attorney’s office, Trask worked with the Kauai Office of the Prosecuting Attorney and the Oahu Office of the Public Defender. He also served as a clerk for Oahu Circuit Judge Richard Perkins and Kauai Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe.
He is a 2004 graduate of the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law and a 1997 alumnus of Kamehameha Schools.
Castillo, who has served as county attorney for the past six years, plans to return to his criminal defense and family law practice.
"Under Al’s mentorship, our deputies have gained invaluable experience and knowledge, and they work effectively together as a team," Carvalho said in a news release. "I believe the office is well positioned to move forward under Mauna Kea’s leadership."
