REPORT TITLE:
Bench Warrants, Fines


DESCRIPTION:
Permits the court to assess a sum not to exceed $50 when issuing
a bench warrant.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                            1458        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY.
 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to give judges
 
 2 discretion to recover the actual cost of issuing a bench warrant
 
 3 by assessing a $50 fine upon the person for whom the warrant is
 
 4 issued.
 
 5      SECTION 2.  Chapter 710, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 6 by adding a new section to part I to be appropriately designated
 
 7 and to read as follows:
 
 8      "§710-    Assessment for bench warrant issuance.  The court,
 
 9 when issuing a bench warrant for any person who fails to appear
 
10 or who otherwise fails to comply with a court order, may assess
 
11 that person a sum not to exceed $50 for the cost of issuing the
 
12 bench warrant."
 
13      SECTION 3.  Section 710-1000, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
14 amended to read as follows:
 
15      "§710-1000  Definitions of terms in this chapter.  In this
 
16 chapter, unless a different meaning plainly is required:
 
17      [(1)] "Administrative proceeding" means any proceeding the
 
18 outcome of which is required to be based on a record or
 
19 documentation prescribed by law, or in which law or regulation is
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 particularized in application to individuals;
 
 2      "Bench warrant" means a process issued by the court itself
 
 3 for the attachment or arrest of a person.
 
 4      [(2)] "Benefit" means gain or advantage, or anything
 
 5 regarded by the beneficiary as gain or advantage, including
 
 6 benefit to any other person or entity in whose welfare the
 
 7 beneficiary is interested;
 
 8      [(3)] "Custody" means restraint by a public servant pursuant
 
 9 to arrest, detention, or order of a court;
 
10      [(4)] "Detention facility" means any place used for the
 
11 confinement of a person:
 
12     [(a)] (1)  Arrested for, charged with, or convicted of a
 
13           criminal offense; [or]
 
14     [(b)] (2)  Confined pursuant to chapter 571; [or]
 
15     [(c)] (3)  Held for extradition; or
 
16     [(d)] (4)  Otherwise confined pursuant to an order of a
 
17           court;
 
18      [(5)] "Government" includes any branch, subdivision, or
 
19 agency of the government of this State or any locality within it;
 
20      [(6)] "Governmental function" includes any activity which a
 
21 public servant is legally authorized to undertake on behalf of
 
22 the government;
 
23      [(7)] "Harm" means loss, disadvantage, or injury, or
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 anything so regarded by the person affected, including loss,
 
 2 disadvantage, or injury to any other person or entity in whose
 
 3 welfare the person affected is interested;
 
 4      [(8)] "Juror" means any person who is a member of any jury,
 
 5 including a grand jury, impaneled by any court of this State or
 
 6 by any public servant authorized by law to impanel a jury, and
 
 7 also includes any person who has been drawn or summoned to attend
 
 8 as a prospective juror;
 
 9      [(9)] "Materially false statement" means any false
 
10 statement, regardless of its admissibility under the rules of
 
11 evidence, which could have affected the course or outcome of the
 
12 proceeding; whether a falsification is material in a given
 
13 factual situation is a question of law;
 
14      [(10)] "Oath" includes an affirmation and every other mode
 
15 authorized by law of attesting to the truth of that which is
 
16 stated, and, for the purposes of this chapter, written statements
 
17 shall be treated as if made under oath if:
 
18     [(a)] (1)  The statement was made on or pursuant to a form
 
19           bearing notice, authorized by law, to the effect that
 
20           false statements made therein are punishable; or
 
21     [(b)] (2)  The statement recites that it was made under oath
 
22           or affirmation, the declarant was aware of such
 
23           recitation at the time the declarant made the statement
 

 
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 1           and intended that the statement should be represented
 
 2           as a sworn statement, and the statement was in fact so
 
 3           represented by its delivery or utterance with the
 
 4           signed jurat of an officer authorized to administer
 
 5           oaths appended thereto;
 
 6      [(11)] "Oath required or authorized by law" means an oath
 
 7 the use of which is specifically provided for by statute or
 
 8 appropriate regulatory provision;
 
 9      [(12)] "Official proceeding" means a proceeding heard or
 
10 which may be heard before any legislative, judicial,
 
11 administrative, or other governmental agency or official
 
12 authorized to take evidence under oath, including any referee,
 
13 hearing examiner, commissioner, notary, or other person taking
 
14 testimony or deposition in connection with any such proceeding;
 
15      [(13)] "Law enforcement officer" means any public servant,
 
16 whether employed by the State or subdivisions thereof or by the
 
17 United States, vested by law with a duty to maintain public order
 
18 or, to make arrests for offenses or to enforce the criminal laws,
 
19 whether that duty extends to all offenses or is limited to a
 
20 specific class of offenses;
 
21      [(14)] "Pecuniary benefit" is benefit in the form of money,
 
22 property, commercial interests, or anything else the primary
 
23 significance of which is economic gain;
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      [(15)] "Public servant" means any officer or employee of any
 
 2 branch of government, whether elected, appointed, or otherwise
 
 3 employed, and any person participating as advisor, consultant, or
 
 4 otherwise, in performing a governmental function, but the term
 
 5 does not include jurors or witnesses;
 
 6      [(16)] "Statement" means any representation, but includes a
 
 7 representation of opinion, belief, or other state of mind only if
 
 8 the representation clearly relates to state of mind apart from or
 
 9 in addition to any facts which are the subject of the
 
10 representation;
 
11      [(17)] "Testimony" includes oral or written statements,
 
12 documents, or any other material that may be offered by a witness
 
13 in an official proceeding."
 
14      SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
15 New statutory material is underscored.
 
16      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
17 
 
18                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________