Richard T. Bissen Jr. ’83 has been a second circuit court judge in Hawaii sincen April 2005. He was a gubernatorial nominee of former Gov. Linda Lingle. Prior to his appointment, he served as the interim director for the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety and as the first deputy attorney general for the state. Bissen served as the prosecuting attorney for the County of Maui from August 1995 to January 2003. Prior to that, he served as a deputy prosecutor from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1992 to 1995.
Judge Bissen has long worked to reduce domestic violence rates, while advocating for juvenile justice and women offenders. He was a founding member of the Maui Drug Court program in 2000. The Maui County Bar Association named him “Lawyer of the Year” in 2001, and in October 1999, he received the “Distinguished Citizen Award” from the Men’s March Against Violence Committee. He is active in several Maui community organizations, including the Maui United Way; Royal Order of Kamehameha, Kahekili Chapter; Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Hawaii, Maui Chapter; Hale Mua Hawaiian Cultural Group; Punana Leo Maui Advisory Committee and more.
Bissen is a married father with three daughters, including Sayble Bissen ’10, and two grandsons.