Hawk Appointed as District Court Judge

Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald appointed Jeffrey Hawk to the District Court of the Third Circuit in Hilo on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.

Hawk has been serving as a Big Island per diem (part-time) District Family Court judge for the past year, and previously served in the same capacity in the District Family Court on O‘ahu.

Hawk has an extensive criminal law background, having tried 95 criminal jury trial cases. He has been a sole proprietor of a criminal law practice in the Volcano area since 2017, and previously handled criminal cases on O‘ahu for 13 years with the firm of Hawk, Sing & Ignacio. Prior to that, Hawk served for five years as a deputy public defender.

Hawk has been a board member of Adult Friends for Youth for the past 15 years, a volunteer firefighter in the Volcano area since 2017 and served on the 2015 Committee to Review and Make Revisions to the Hawai‘i Penal Code. From 2006 to 2014, Hawk served as a member of the Defender Council, the governing body of the Office of the Public Defender.

Hawk is a graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law and was admitted to the Hawai‘i State Bar in 1997. He earned a BA degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

The chief justice appoints district court judges from a list of not less than six nominees submitted by the Judicial Selection Commission. If confirmed by the Hawai‘i State Senate, Hawk will serve a term of six years.