The nomination of Vladimir Devens to be Hawaiʻi’s next Supreme Court chief justice is scheduled for a hearing this week amid new concerns over his past leadership of a political action committee that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to elect Gov. Josh Green.

Karl Rhoads, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Civil Beat Friday that he is concerned Vladimir Devens did not disclose in his confidential Judicial Selection Commission application last week that he spent four years on the board of Be Change Now, the super PAC operated by Public Resource Partnership, which represents the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters and more than 250 of Hawaiʻi’s top contractors.

Devens also did not disclose his PAC position in 2023 when Green nominated him for a seat on the state’s highest court.

Civil Beat reported the super PAC connection in November 2023, just one day after the full Senate confirmed Devens to be an associate justice.

Devens’ confirmation hearing for chief justice is scheduled for Wednesday.

“I am sure the topic will come up,” said Rhoads. “We’ll have to see what his explanation is.”

Devens did not reply to an inquiry Friday.

In the 35-page notarized application, Devens doesn’t list Be Change Now as one of the organizations he’s been affiliated with in the past.

However, he does mention it in response to this question: “What, if anything, in your background and experience, both personal and professional, might, if disclosed, could bring negative reactions during the Senate confirmation process and adversely affect your nomination to the court?”

This section then states, “We will require you to disclose all such action or state that there is none, and, when in doubt, it is best to disclose.”

Devens identified two complaints about him with the Office of Disciplinary Council by former clients and a third from a land developer when Devens was on the Land Use Commission. All three were dismissed, he said.

Devens then concluded this section of the application with this statement: “After I was confirmed by the Senate in 2023, the media outlet Civil Beat published an article stating that I had not disclosed a prior membership on a political action committee. I believe the relevant question on the application related to present affiliations. I had already stepped off that committee before applying to the judiciary, however, the committee’s DCCA filings apparently had not been updated and still had me listed which I was unaware of.”

Devens applied for the associate justice position on Nov. 23, 2022, just weeks after Green’s election and about a month after the Judicial Selection Commission said it was accepting applications to fill the soon-to-be-vacated seats of Associate Justices Paula Nakayama and Mike Wilson. There are five justices on the court.

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs listed Devens in business registration filings as a director of Be Change Now from April 2019 until April 2023.

In the 2023 Civil Beat article, Lee Tokuhara, communications director for Be Change Now, said Devens served on the Be Change Now board “from May 2018 and resigned in 2022, and his role was legal in nature.”

Now, the link between Devens and the super PAC that campaigned so heavily on behalf of the governor is raising fresh concerns because he again did not list the PAC on the new application.

Between June and October 2022, Be Change Now spent just over $500,000 on advertisements supporting Green’s campaign for governor, according to data from the Campaign Spending Commission. Another PRP super PAC, For A Better Tomorrow, is now spending heavily on behalf of Kauaʻi Mayor Derek Kawakami.

The DCCA registration in 2023 listed Devens along with another director, Kyle Chock, and Joshua Magno, the chair, secretary, treasurer and a director of Be Change Now. Devens also identified Chock as a reference in his application for associate justice.

Devens does not include Chock as a reference in his application for chief justice. And, though he says now he does not believe he was required to disclose a past board association, he does list past memberships in his application with a half-dozen professional organizations including Consumer Lawyers for Hawaiʻi and two charitable groups, CrimeStoppers of Honolulu and Palolo Boxing Club.

Asked about the omission, Green sent a statement via email Friday about his nominee, who he announced earlier this month.

“I nominated Justice Devens because of his integrity, experience and proven leadership on the bench,” he said. “He was thoroughly vetted during his 2023 confirmation and has complied with all disclosure requirements. I’m confident the Senate will again recognize that he is exceptionally well qualified to serve as Chief Justice.”

From Labor Lawyer To Chief Administrator

Devens is a 1980 graduate of Kalani High School on Oʻahu. He earned his law degree in 1987 from the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Prior to becoming an associate justice, Devens ran his own law practice. His clients included the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, the State of Hawaiʻi Organization of Police Officers, United Public Workers, the Hawaiʻi Fire Fighter Association, and the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association.

The chief justice is a far more important position than an associate justice. The chief oversees the entire state judiciary, which includes the ICA, the district and circuit courts and specialized courts. The judiciary employs about 1,700 people and the responsibilities of the chief justice include selecting district court judges and also assigning judges to serve in a temporary capacity on all courts.

The chief justice is the administrator of a bureaucracy that has an annual operating budget of about $215 million. The chief also submits to the Legislature annual routine repair and maintenance reports for judiciary-owned buildings, facilities and other improvements. The judiciary’s proposed capital improvement budget for the next fiscal year is around $45 million.

It has been difficult to attract candidates to be chief justice, and the Judicial Selection Commission had to extend the deadlines and solicit potential applicants.