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Hawaii Commissioner of Agriculture

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Hawaii Commissioner of Agriculture

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General information
Office Type:  Nonpartisan
Office website:  Official Link
Compensation:  $175,056
2025 FY Budget:  $56,187,270
Term limits:  None
Structure
Length of term:   4 years coterminous with the governor
Selection Method:  Appointed by the governor
Current Officeholder(s)

Hawaii Commissioner of Agriculture Sharon Hurd
Nonpartisan
Assumed office: March 31, 2023

Other Hawaii Executive Offices
GovernorLieutenant GovernorAttorney GeneralDirector of FinanceAuditorSuperintendent of EducationAgriculture CommissionerDirector of Commerce and Consumer AffairsChairperson of Land and Natural ResourcesDirector of Labor and Industrial RelationsPublic Utilities Commission

The Hawaii Commissioner of Agriculture is an appointed, executive position in the Hawaii state government. The department's main objectives are to preserve, promote and develop essential agricultural resources and infrastructure; to create and maximize opportunities for exporting; and facilitate growth of existing and new agricultural commodities and by-products. In addition, the department works to prevent the introduction and establishment of plants, animals and diseases that are detrimental to the state's agriculture industry and the environment.[1][2]

Current officeholder

The current Hawaii Commissioner of Agriculture is Sharon Hurd (nonpartisan). Hurd assumed office in 2023.

Authority

The Department of Agriculture's executive board and the Commissioner of Agriculture's powers, term of office, etc. are derived from Division 1, Title 4, Chapter 26, Part I, Section 26-16 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Division 1, Title 4, Chapter 26, Part I, Section 26-16:

§26-16 Department of agriculture. (a) The department of agriculture shall be headed by an executive board to be known as the board of agriculture. The board shall consist of ten members:

(1) One who shall be a resident of the county of Hawaii; (2) One who shall be a resident of the county of Maui; (3) One who shall be a resident of the county of Kauai; (4) Four at large; and (5) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources; the director of business, economic development, and tourism; and the dean of the University of Hawaii college of tropical agriculture and human resources, or their designated representatives, who shall serve as ex officio voting members.

Qualifications

Division 1, Title 4, Chapter 26, Part I, Section 26-16 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes establishes the qualifications of the members of the executive board. There are no separate qualifications for the chairperson/commissioner:

The majority of the members of the board shall be from the agricultural community or the agricultural support sector.[3]

Appointments

The chair of the Board of Agriculture is appointed by the governor and concurrently serves as the director of the Department of Agriculture.[4]

Vacancies

According to Division 1, Title 4, Chapter 26, Part I, Section 26-34 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, vacancies are filled for the unexpired terms thereof, subject to Article V, Section 6 of the Hawaii Constitution. This means the governor appoints a new commissioner with the advice and consent of the state Senate. If the vacancy occurs when the senate is not in session, the governor can granting a commission which expires at the end of the next session of the senate, unless the appointment is confirmed during that session. Any person appointed to a temporary commission who is not confirmed by the senate is ineligible from being temporarily appointed again.[5]

Duties

According to Division 1, Title 4, Chapter 26, Part I, Section 26-16 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, it is the commissioner's duty to, "identify problems related to agriculture and the appropriate state agencies and departments needed to solve the problem."

Additionally, the Department of Agriculture is tasked with:

  • Promoting the conservation, development and utilization of agricultural resources
  • Assisting farmers in Hawaii and others engaged in agriculture by research projects, dissemination of information, crop and livestock reporting service, market news service and any other means of improving the well-being of those engaged in agriculture and increasing the productivity of the lands
  • Administering the programs relating to animal husbandry, entomology, farm credit, development and promotion of agricultural products and markets and the establishment and enforcement of the rules on the grading and labeling of agricultural products
  • Administering the aquaculture program[6]

To view the organization chart, click here.

Division

As of January 15, 2021, there are nine main divisions to Hawaii's Department of Agriculture:[7]

The Chairperson's office also includes a deputy director, a public information officer and a planner. The Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) also falls administratively under the Chairperson's Office.[8]

State budget

See also: Hawaii state budget and finances

The Department of Agriculture's budget for Fiscal Year 2025 was $56,187,270.[9]

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

The salaries of elected and appointed executives in Hawaii are determined by the Hawaii Commission on Salaries, which was established by constitutional amendment in 2006. Passage of this amendment by the public added the following language to Article XVI of the state constitution:

Article XVI, Section 3.5 of the Hawaii Constitution

Text of Section 3.5:

There shall be a commission on salaries as provided by law, which shall review and recommend salaries for the justices and judges of all state courts, members of the legislature, department heads or executive officers of the executive departments and the deputies or assistants to department heads of the executive departments as provided by law, excluding the University of Hawaii and the department of education. The commission shall also review and make recommendations for the salary of the administrative director of the State or equivalent position and the salary of the governor and the lieutenant governor.

Any salary established pursuant to this section shall not be decreased during a term of office, unless by general law applying to all salaried officers of the State.

Not later than the fortieth legislative day of the 2007 regular legislative session and every six years thereafter, the commission shall submit to the legislature its recommendations and then dissolve.

The recommended salaries submitted shall become effective as provided in the recommendation, unless the legislature disapproves the entire recommendation as a whole by adoption of a concurrent resolution prior to adjournment sine die of the legislative session in which the recommendation is submitted; provided that any change in salary which becomes effective shall not apply to the legislature to which the recommendation for the change in salary was submitted.

The commission consists of seven members selected by the governor (two seats), the President of the Hawaii State Senate (two seats), Speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives (two seats) and the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court (one seat). Commissioners meet every six years to evaluate salaries for executive, judicial and legislative officials. Their recommendations go into effect unless the Hawaii State Legislature votes to reject the entirety of the commission's final report. The commission last met in November 2012 and made recommendations for official salaries between 2013 and 2018.[10]

2023

In 2023, the officer's salary was $175,056, according to the Council of State Governments.[11]

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $154,812, according to the Council of State Governments.[12]

2021

In 2021, the commissioner received a salary of $154,812, according to the Council of State Governments.[13]

2020

In 2020, the commissioner’s salary was increased to $154,812, according to the Council of State Governments.[14]

2019

In 2019, the commissioner’s salary was increased to $147,444, according to the Council of State Governments.[15]

2018

In 2018, the commissioner’s salary was increased to $144,452, according to the Council of State Governments.[16]

2017

In 2017, the commissioner’s salary was increased to $141,720, according to the Council of State Governments.[17]

2016

In 2016, the commissioner’s salary was increased to $138,936, according to the Council of State Governments.[18]

2015

In 2015, the commissioner’s salary was increased to $136,212, according to the Council of State Governments.[19]

2014

In 2014, the commissioner received a salary of $133,536, according to the Council of State Governments.[20]

2013

In 2013, the commissioner was paid an estimated $103,512, according to the Knowledge Center's Book of States 2013.[21]

Historical officeholders

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for chronological lists of historical officeholders; information for the Hawaii Commissioner of Agriculture has not yet been added because the information was unavailable on the relevant state official websites, or we are currently in the process of formatting the list for this office. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

Contact information

Hawaii Department of Agriculture
1428 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814

See also

Hawaii State Executive Elections News and Analysis
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External links

Footnotes

  1. Hawaii Department of Agriculture, "About" accessed January 14, 2021
  2. Hawaii Department of Agriculture, "Chairperson" accessed January 14, 2021
  3. Hawaii State Legislature, "§26-16 Department of agriculture," accessed January 15, 2021
  4. Department of Agriculture, "Chairperson" accessed July 27, 2012
  5. Hawaii State Legislature, "§26-16 Department of agriculture," accessed January 15, 2021
  6. Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Division 1, Title 4, Chapter 26, Part 1, Section 26-16," accessed January 15, 2021
  7. Hawaii Department of Agriculture, "Organization" accessed January 15, 2021
  8. Hawaii Department of Agriculture, "Chairperson's Office" accessed January 15, 2021
  9. Department of Budget and Finance, "The FB 2023-25 Executive Biennium Budget," accessed January 16, 2025
  10. Commission on Salaries, "Report and Recommendations to the 2013 Legislature," January 15, 2021
  11. Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2023 Table 4.11: Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," accessed January 15, 2025
  12. Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2022 Table 4.11: Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," provided to Ballotpedia by CSG personnel
  13. Issuu, "The Book of the States 2021," accessed September 22, 2022
  14. Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2020," accessed January 16, 2021
  15. Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2019," accessed January 16, 2021
  16. Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2017," accessed January 16, 2021
  17. Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2017," accessed January 16, 2021
  18. Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2016," accessed August 27, 2016
  19. Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2015," accessed August 27, 2016
  20. Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," accessed November 14, 2014
  21. Knowledge Center, "Book of the States 2013, Chapter 4: State Executive Branch, Table 4.11," accessed July 25, 2013