Governor Appoints Russell Suzuki as Hawaii Attorney General

HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige has appointed Russell Suzuki to serve as the attorney general of the State of Hawaii.

Russell Suzuki

Suzuki has been acting as the chief legal and law enforcement officer for the state since Feb. 2, 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 Chin, David Louie, and Mark Bennett. Prior to that he was a supervising deputy attorney beneral of the Administration Division and Education Division.

He 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 Ige.

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

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

His appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.