The outcome of a petition to impeach Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro likely won’t be decided until well into 2019.

Kaneshiro did not appear at a status conference on the impeachment petition in state Circuit Court today nor was there anyone else there to represent him.

Circuit Judge Jeffrey P. Crabtree set a Feb. 14 date for a follow-up status conference after hearing from First Deputy Corporation Counsel Paul Aoki, who was representing the city clerk’s office, and Keith Kiuchi, the attorney for petition filer and Honolulu businessman Tracy Yoshimura.

“There’s only so far we can go if Mr. Kaneshiro is not represented,” Crabtree said.

Yoshimura’s petition seeks to have the court remove Kaneshiro because of a federal investigation involving him as well as several of his top deputies.

Aoki, who stated in the courtroom that he was not there to represent Kaneshiro, said the prosecutor could ask the city provide him legal counsel in the proceeding. The Department of Corporation Counsel would likely recommend that outside attorneys be hired to represent him. Such a hire would need approval from the City Council. But the Council has not yet released its 2019 meeting schedule, so when a final decision would be made to grant outside attorneys for Kaneshiro likely woudn’t happen until mid- or late February, Aoki said.

Such a process would likely make moot a scheduled Jan. 8 hearing date on the petition.

It was clear from today’s hearing that the impeachment petition process remains murky due to vague language in state and city law, and also because no one in Hawaii has attempted to impeach an elected official since the laws went into effect.

Kiuchi confirmed that the petition was served on Kaneshiro at his office through his assistant Thursday.