Windward legislator Jarrett Keohokalole misused state money

A state ethics investigation has led to state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole admitting that he deposited state money for work expense reimbursements into his personal bank account in what the lawmaker called inadvertent mistakes.

Keohokalole (D, Kailua- Kaneohe) announced that he submitted Friday a signed settlement agreement to the Hawaii State Ethics Commission involving deposits totalling $1,264 for plane tickets and food that qualified as reimbursable work expenses over three years.

As part of the agreement in which the senator admitted to violating the state ethics code, Keohokalole will return the reimbursement money to the state and pay the state a $1,500 administrative penalty.

“I am embarrassed by this situation,” Keohokalole said in a statement. “These were mistakes that could have been easily avoided.”

Keohokalole said the commission notified him of an investigation in which he cooperated over the past few months, and that a review of the reimbursements led to the settlement agreement.

The reimbursements involved $65 in Zippy’s food bought for a Kaneohe community town hall meeting about a dog park in 2020, and $1,199 in airfare to attend government conference events on the mainland in 2018 and 2019.

Keohokalole paid for these things with a campaign fund debit card and later sought reimbursement from his state legislative allowance account, an arrangement he used because it was financially difficult to personally front work expenses and await reimbursement.

Legislative allowances can be used for incidental expenses related to legislative work, and Keohokalole’s three expenses were approved by the Senate Clerk for reimbursement.

However, the three reimbursement payments at issue went into Keohokalole’s personal bank account instead of his campaign account. Keohokalole said this was due to inattention.

The commission described the settlement as fair and reasonable and also said public servants need to be held to the highest standards of ethics and ensure they don’t mishandle public money.

“The Commission is troubled by the fact that Respondent Keohokalole’s mishandling of legislative allowance funds occurred not once, but on three separate occasions,” the commission said in a written description of the case. “The Commission views these actions as an egregious violation of trust.”

Keohokalole said he has since made changes to his accounting processes personally and in his office to ensure that something of the same sort does not happen again.

“Government transparency matters,” he said in his statement. “Details matter. Things like this make people feel they can’t trust their leaders. In light of the range of recent reports of misconduct by government officials, I felt it important to disclose these violations immediately and publicly, so that my constituents and community understand that I take these matters and their trust seriously. I am moving to resolve them in the most accountable manner possible.”

Recent incidents of local public-servant misconduct include former state Sen. J. Kalani English and former Rep. Ty J.K. Cullen, who pleaded guilty in February to charges in connection with taking cash and other items of value from a local businessman in return for action on legislation.

English, who resigned last year, and Cullen, who resigned last month when federal corruption charges against both men were announced, face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

In another recent case, Honolulu Council member Andria Tupola earlier this month was deemed by the Honolulu Ethics Commission to have improperly spent about $1,500 in city money to buy materials for community events put on by a company that Tupola worked for at the time.

Tupola returned $1,119 in cash and agreed to give the city about $400 worth of chairs that she bought for an event.

Keohokalole, an attorney, was first elected to the Legislature in 2014, winning a vacant House seat and then winning a Senate seat in 2018 being vacated by then-Sen. Jill Tokuda, who made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor.

Leadership positions held by Keohokalole in the Legislature include serving as an assistant majority whip, chair of the Senate Health Committee and vice chair of the Judiciary Committee and the Hawaiian Affairs Committee.

The agreement to resolve the case includes the commission referring the matter to Senate President Ron Kouchi “for further action as appropriate.”

Kouchi was asked for a comment on the matter, but he did not give one Friday.