Gov. Ige Appoints New Attorney General

Russell Suzuki. Courtesy photo.

Gov. David Ige has appointed Russell Suzuki to serve as Hawai‘i’s attorney General.

Suzuki has been acting as the chief legal and law enforcement officer for the state since Feb. 2, 2018, when then Attorney General Doug Chin resigned to become lieutenant governor.

Suzuki has served as a public-sector attorney working at the Department of Attorney General for 36 years. During this time, he served as first deputy attorney general under Attorneys General Douglas Chin, David Louie and Mark Bennett.

Prior to that, he was a supervising deputy attorney general of the Administration Division and Education Division.

Suzuki has also served as counsel to various state boards and commissions, including the Land Use Commission, the Board of Education, the Board of Regents, the Employees’ Retirement System, the Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund and the Judicial Selection Commission, among others.

Before making the move to the public sector, he practiced criminal defense law, family law, business law and military law at the law offices of Yoshiro Nakamura.

“Russell brings a wealth of experience to this position, and I know he will continue to provide sound legal advice to the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government,” said Gov. Ige.

“I am humbled and honored to serve in this position,” said Suzuki. “I’ll do my best to serve the people of the State of Hawaiʻi.”

Suzuki earned a B.A. from the University of Hawai‘i and his J.D. from the Ohio State University.

His appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.