The Legislative Reference Bureau is a nonpartisan legislative service agency that strives to provide comprehensive research and reference services for the Hawaii State Legislature.

The Bureau offers a wide variety of services to Legislators, Legislative Committees, and in some cases, members of the public, including:

  1. Conducting impartial policy and legal research upon request by the Legislature, Legislative Committees, or individual Legislators, or upon the Bureau’s own initiative;
  2. Drafting legislative bills and resolutions, including committee reports, for the Legislature, Legislative Committees, and Legislators;
  3. Maintaining a reference library primarily for use by the Legislature and legislative service agencies, that houses a collection of Hawaii law and reports of the various Hawaii state agencies, officers, and boards; statutory and administrative materials from other states and territories; and other periodicals and books that offer authoritative information on matters related to current or proposed legislative issues;
  4. Operating a legislative data management system that maintains a database of history and status of legislative measures, past and present;
  5. Performing statute revision annually and publishing Session Laws, Supplements, and replacement volumes of the Hawaii Revised Statutes;
  6. Serving, upon request, in an advisory capacity to the Legislature and its Committees on all matters within its competencies and responsibilities;
  7. Assisting, upon request, other legislative service agencies on matters within its competency; and
  8. Operating the Public Access Room to offer non-partisan outreach and assistance to the public to encourage public participation in the legislative process.

We are prohibited from revealing the contents of any request for services, except to the requester. This assures the confidentiality of every request a legislator sends to the Bureau. See §23G-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes