My name is Kelden Braun Akoni Waltjen.  Since December 7, 2020, I have had the honor of serving as Hawai‘i County’s Prosecuting Attorney. Prior to being elected, I served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney at the Hawai‘i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney since 2012.  I started my career handling cases in the District Court and progressed to the Circuit Court Unit, where I handled a wide variety of felonies, including offenses related to domestic violence, murders, property and violent crimes.  I spent many years working with the Hawai‘i County Police Department, including assignment to the Special Enforcement Unit of the Criminal Investigation Section, where I focused on serious and dangerous crimes, drug dealers, burglaries, stolen cars, illegal firearms, and repeat offenders. 

I was born and raised on Hawai‘i Island, graduated from St. Joseph’s High School, and obtained my Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.  I received my Juris Doctorate from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, where I also met my wife Shawn Hisako Yamada.  Prior to working at the Prosecutor’s Office, I clerked for Associate Justice Richard W. Pollack at the Circuit Court of the First Circuit and Hawai‘i Supreme Court.  I served as the East Hawai‘i Director of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division and was honored as the 2018-2019 Hawai‘i County Employee of the Year.

When I am not at the office, I enjoy spending time with my family, exercising, and working on classic cars.  I developed an interest in cars while working on my project car, a 1968 Chevy Camaro, with my late Papa, Tony Amaral, who was the most influential person in my life.  He was a plumber and sheet metal worker by trade, who passed on his knowledge, and stressed the importance of honesty, compassion, and hard work.