State Sen. J. Kalani English’s guilty plea to a felony cocaine possession charge in 1988 is raising questions about his participation in a company that has applied for a state license to operate a medical marijuana dispensary.

State Department of Health interim rules governing the dispensaries dictate that each member of a company applying for a state license shall “not have any felony convictions or any other disqualifying background history in accordance with this chapter.”

Janice Okubo, communications director for the Health Department, declined to say whether English’s 1988 guilty plea for promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree disqualifies the company, Hawaii Medicinal Options LLC, from obtaining a license.

“It is inappropriate for the department to comment on individual applicants during the selection process,” she said in an emailed response to questions.

State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs records list English as a member of Hana, Maui-based Hawaii Medicinal Options along with Patricia McIntyre of Hana, Alan Texeira of Kaneohe and WinWright Corp. of Anaheim, Calif.

Hawaii Medicinal Options is one of 59 applicants for eight marijuana dispensary licenses that will be issued by the Department of Health.

Under Department of Health rules, each officer or member of the companies applying for a dispensary license must undergo a criminal history background check. The rules require that those who have a felony or a drug conviction, or a conviction involving firearms, theft or commercial fraud, be disqualified.

The rules also require the disqualification of anyone who “has any other background history that the department finds would pose a risk to the health, safety or welfare of the public or qualifying patient, considering the nature of the offense, the time elapsed since the offense occurred, and evidence of rehabilitation.”

Court records show English was indicted for third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug on April 20, 1988, in a Honolulu cocaine possession case, and entered a guilty plea to the charge on Sept. 19, 1988.

Honolulu Circuit Judge Wendell K. Huddy agreed on Oct. 25, 1988, to a deferred acceptance of the guilty plea, an arrangement that allows the charge to be dismissed later if the defendant follows the judge’s instructions and is not involved in other criminal activity.

English was ordered to undergo drug testing by the Adult Probation Division for two years and perform 50 hours of community service. The court then approved a motion to dismiss the case on Dec. 6, 1990.

English (D, Molokai-Lanai-East Maui) did not respond to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment Thursday or Friday. However, he had issued a written statement to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin about the case in 1996 in which he explained, “When I was a student, I made a mistake. The court deferred accepting my plea because the judge felt I should be given a second chance.

“The intent of this judicial process was to prevent what happened from ever being used against me. The charges were dismissed, and I was not convicted of any crime,” English said in the statement.

English’s participation in a group that has applied for one of the potentially lucrative dispensary licenses has already attracted attention at the state Capitol, with some lawmakers saying they think it gives the appearance of a conflict of interest.

English is the influential Senate majority leader, and helped to pass the law to create medical marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii.

Lawmakers are also considering a number of possible changes to the law this year, such as specifying that license holders can cultivate marijuana in greenhouses or shade houses, or granting doctors more discretion to prescribe marijuana. English would normally participate in measures like those as the majority leader and a voting member of the Senate.

State Ethics Commission Executive Director Les Kondo said the Hawaii State Code of Ethics exempts lawmakers from conflict-of-interest restrictions when it comes to voting or participating in official matters as legislators, so English could vote on those issues.

Meanwhile, another lawmaker with a potential conflict of interest related to the marijuana dispensary issue has made arrangements to abstain from voting on the issue.

State House Rep. Derek Kawakami said he is uncomfortable voting on the issue because his father, Charles Kawakami, has applied for one of the dispensary licenses.

Kawakami (D, Hanalei-Princeville-Kapaa) on Friday took the rare step of obtaining permission from House Speaker Joseph Souki to be excused from voting on dispensary issues for the 2016 session.

“I have to do what I feel is the right thing in my heart,” Kawakami said. “All the legal counsel in the world, all the advice in the world, at the end of the day, it’s what I feel is the right thing to do, and I feel what I did is the right thing to do, considering.”

Souki, (D, Waihee-Waiehu-Wailuku) said he does not like to excuse members from voting because he believes every House member has a constitutional responsibility to vote on each issue regardless of any conflict of interest.

“You just state your conflict of interest, and you vote,” Souki said. “I know it’s a ticklish matter in the case here because it’s his direct family, his father, but still yet, the Constitution states that you have a responsibility to your constituency to vote.”

In this case, the staff attorney for the House said Kawakami can be excused from voting, Souki said. “It’s done already. I just hope it won’t set a precedent,” he said.