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Louis Kealoha will have to pay back his settlement if he’s found guilty of a felony within six years. Documents released last week said it was seven years.
The Honolulu Police Commission issued a correction Monday that made clear outgoing Police Chief Louis Kealoha will have to give back a $250,000 severance payment if he’s convicted of a felony within six years of his retirement, not seven as was initially reported.
Last week, the commission had released the terms of Kealoha’s retirement deal to the press after several hours of closed-door negotiations.
Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha is set to retire March 1 amid a growing scandal in his department.
Cory Lum/Civil Beat
The agreement included a provision that stated the chief, who has been named as a target of a U.S. Justice Department public corruption investigation, would have to payback his $250,000 settlement should be found guilty of a felony in seven years.
Civil Beat had posted the agreement with the seven-year provision in its entirety in an article published Wednesday. That piece also noted that Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s statement to the press misrepresented the terms of the provision when he said the chief would give back the money in six years if found guilty.
It turns out the mayor was right.
Here’s the Police Commission’s letter to Civil Beat noting its mistake, along with an updated version of the chief’s retirement agreement:
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Nick Grube is a reporter for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at nick@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at @nickgrube. You can also reach him by phone at 808-377-0246.
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