Oahu judge to hear Kenoi case

An Oahu judge will hear the theft case of Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi.

The state Judiciary announced Tuesday that state Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald has temporarily re-assigned Honolulu Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario to preside over the trial of the county’s chief executive, who was indicted March 23 by a Hilo grand jury on two counts each of second- and third-degree theft, three counts of tampering with a government record, and a single count of making a false statement under oath.

All of the Big Island’s state judges have recused themselves from hearing the case.

Kenoi, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, has a July 18 court date in Hilo.

The charges follow a yearlong probe by the state attorney general’s office into Kenoi’s use of a county credit card known as a purchasing card, or pCard. The investigation started after Big Island newspapers reported Kenoi used his pCard to pay an $892 tab at a Honolulu hostess bar.

Other personal items charged were a surfboard, bicycle, campaign expenses and bar association fees.

In total, the mayor made almost $130,000 in charges on the card between January 2009 and March 2015.

Kenoi reimbursed the county for $22,292 in personal charges between those dates. He later paid back approximately $9,500 more after the newspapers published stories examining his pCard use.

The most serious offenses, two counts of second-degree theft, are Class C felonies that each carry a possible five-year prison term and $10,000 fine upon conviction. The other charges are misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors.