State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nänäkuli, Mäkaha), will get the chance to choose a new member of the influential state Judicial Selection Commission when Melvin Chiba, the president and chief executive officer of the Kaua’i Community Federal Credit Union, completes his six-year term in April.

Insiders believe Hanabusa will pick George Masuoka, a retired Kaua’i Circuit Court judge who is respected in the legal community. But there is a wrinkle. The state constitution -- Article VI, Section 4 -- states that no more than four of the nine commission members can be licensed attorneys.

Masuoka would be the fifth but he has voluntarily put himself on the inactive list.

Some argue that a Masuoka appointment would be an obvious attempt to get around the constitution. “No matter how you spin it, this is contrary to the intent of the constitution,” one source said.

Hanabusa said in a statement last night that any discussion about who she may appoint is “purely speculative.”

However, in general, we should keep in mind that while the Hawai’i Constitution limits the number of members of the Commission who are `licensed attorneys,’ there is no limitation on the number who may have had training or experience in the law.

The wording of the constitutional provision leaves that possibility open, and I think that was intentional.

I believe it is perfectly consistent with the letter and the spirit of the law to consider candidates who have had legal experience, but who do not hold active licenses. I also think it would be a real benefit to the Commission to include a member who has had actual experience on the bench.

The Judicial Selection Commission vets applications for all judicial vacancies and forwards potential nominees to the governor and the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. The commission also does performance evaluations that determine whether judges should be retained in office.