Former Hawaiʻi Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald Receives National Judicial College’s Highest Honor

Former Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has been named the recipient of the National Judicial College’s Sandra Day O’Connor Award, the organization’s highest honor, recognizing his leadership and contributions to the administration of justice, access to the courts, and civic education.

Recktenwald, who retired September 30, 2025, after serving 15 years as Hawaiʻi’s chief justice, will receive the award November 12 during the Appellate Judges Education Institute Summit in Philadelphia.

During his tenure, Recktenwald led efforts to modernize Hawaiʻi’s court system, expand access to legal services, strengthen community partnerships, and promote public understanding of the judicial branch.

Among his accomplishments was the establishment of self-help centers in all four judicial circuits, beginning with Kauaʻi in 2011. Through collaboration with the legal community and volunteer attorneys, these centers have provided free assistance to more than 40,000 individuals navigating civil legal matters without an attorney.

Under his leadership, the Judiciary also expanded electronic filing and remote court proceedings, improved language access, and developed programs to better serve individuals facing challenges such as substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and homelessness.

Recktenwald also made civic education a priority. He established the Courts in the Community program in 2012, bringing Hawaiʻi Supreme Court oral arguments to high schools across the state and providing thousands of young people with opportunities to observe the judicial process firsthand.

In 2021, he helped establish the Hawaiʻi Commission to Promote and Advance Civic Education (PACE), which works to strengthen public understanding of government, democracy, and the rule of law.

“If Hawaiʻi’s civic education movement has a superhero, it is Chief Justice Recktenwald, who acts with a quiet, sincere conviction: no cape, no fanfare, staying until the last question is answered,” said Justice Lisa M. Ginoza, chair of the PACE Commission. “Chief Justice Recktenwald has been the person who always shows up. He shows up for students, teachers, librarians, and even the small rural school on a neighbor island that has never had a justice visit.”

Recktenwald joined the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court as an associate justice in 2009 and became chief justice in September 2010. He previously served as chief judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Since retiring, he has continued his work promoting the rule of law through Keep Our Republic’s Alliance of Former Chief Justices, a national initiative involving former state supreme court leaders.

Named in honor of the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, the Sandra Day O’Connor Award is presented by the National Judicial College, which was founded in 1963 and provides education and professional development for judges throughout the United States and internationally.

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