LIHU‘E — County prosecutors late last month delivered 64 subpoenas to the Office of the County Attorney seeking county Planning Department documents on alleged violations of the new county transient vacation rental law. Fifth Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano ruled Monday
LIHU‘E — County prosecutors late last month delivered 64 subpoenas to the Office of the County Attorney seeking county Planning Department documents on alleged violations of the new county transient vacation rental law.
Fifth Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano ruled Monday that the subpoenas should have been delivered to the Planning Department instead.
Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho said she would re-issue the subpoenas Monday or today to the Planning Department, seeking what Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask said are public records about alleged TVR violations in case files of two county planning inspectors.
The formal court motion filed by Trask was to quash the 64 subpoenas, with Trask arguing that they were served to the wrong entity and were so broad as to reach the level of what Valenciano called a “fishing expedition.”
Valenciano ruled the subpoenas were delivered to the wrong entity, but that the presence of separate tax map key and transient vacation non-compliance application numbers on each of the subpoenas made them specific enough so that the requested documents could and should be produced.
Iseri-Carvalho said in the state courthouse here that she knows subpoenas delivered to the Planning Department would likely be forwarded to the Office of the County Attorney for discussion and disposition, and that she was simply trying to save time in her investigation process.
Trask countered that the Office of the County Attorney does not receive subpoenas for all county departments. Since the matter before Valenciano is a criminal investigation, state court rules not the county charter prevail, he said.
“It’s a confusing situation,” Valenciano said.
In court, Iseri-Carvalho said she may file a state Office of Disciplinary Council complaint that Trask, fellow Deputy County Attorneys Mark Guyot and Jennifer Winn’s declarations in the case were “totally inaccurate.” She said County Attorney Al Castillo admitted such in a recent telephone conversation between Iseri-Carvalho and Castillo.
Castillo could not be reached for comment on that matter Monday afternoon.
Iseri-Carvalho said after the hearing that she is not sure whether some of the TVRs that are the subject of the subpoenas are in compliance with the new county law, or if they remain non-compliant.
She also said operation of illegal vacation rentals are misdemeanor crimes, and she is not certain whether criminal prosecution will be initiated by her office.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
