About Mayor Billy Kenoi

Mayor Billy Kenoi

Hawai‘i County Mayor Billy Kenoi was born in Kalapana, graduated from Waiakea High School, and attended both Hawai‘i Community College and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo before graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst as a member of the UMASS Political Science Honor Society. He obtained his Law Degree from the University of Hawai’i’s William S. Richardson School of Law.

He was elected mayor in 2008 in his first run for public office.

Previously he served as Executive Assistant to Hawai‘i County Mayor Harry Kim; and was Honolulu Deputy Public Defender in the District, Family, and Felony Trial Divisions.

Mayor Kenoi is a member of the Hawai’i State Bar Association. He is a board member with the Hawai‘i Justice Foundation and the Hawai‘i Island United Way. In 2007, he was recognized by Hawai’i Business Magazine as one of “25 people who will help shape Hawai‘i over the next 25 years.”

Mayor Kenoi has worked at the Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, the State Judiciary, and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund as a volunteer. He served as an advocate before the Individual Claims Review Panel for beneficiaries denied claims under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, and drafted the EIS Complaint to shut down the Spaceport in Ka‘u.

Mayor Kenoi, 42, is married to Takako Kenoi. They have three children, Liam, Justin and Mahina.