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HRS §36-5

Who is responsible for spending state money correctly

Each department head must make sure that all money requests and spending for their department are correct. The finance director is only responsible for paying the total amount approved by the legislature, not for how each department spends it.

courtsstate agencies

The statute, as written — Responsibility for drafts on treasury

Except as otherwise provided, the head of each department shall be responsible for the correctness of all drafts or orders drawn by him upon the treasury, in pursuance of appropriations, and for the proper disbursements of all appropriations for his department. The responsibility of the director of finance, in these cases, shall be limited to the payment of the aggregate amount of appropriations made by the legislature. [CC 1859, §477; RL 1925, §1251; RL 1935, §2210; RL 1945, §5811; RL 1955, §132-11; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §14; am L 1963, c 114, §1; HRS §36-5]
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.