STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2290

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 3177
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
3177 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JUDGES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to allow merit pay raises for judges, and to require the Judicial
Selection Commission to study and report on how best to establish
a merit pay system for judges.

     Your Committee finds that the issue of judicial evaluations,
and the prospect of judicial merit pay, has provoked much
discussion and concern regarding the possibility that judicial
independence could be eroded.  Your Committee further finds that
the present judiciary administration has reported on recent
efforts to establish a Judicial Evaluation Committee and your
Committee is encouraged by these actions.  However, your
Committee believes that these efforts could be enhanced by
continuing discussions with other parties interested in pursuing
excellence in the Judiciary.

     Your Committee acknowledges that allowing for judicial merit
pay raises to begin this year would be premature.  The limited
amount of data previously available as a basis for judicial
evaluations raised justified concerns about the possibility that
a negative evaluation of a judge submitted by a single, vengeful
attorney would be given undue weight by the evaluators.  However,
recent improvements in the process for collecting attorney

 
a                                                     
                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2290
                                   Page 2


evaluations of judges have resulted in much higher numbers of
evaluations.  Thus, more meaningful data would now be available
to the evaluating body for use in judicial evaluations.  Your
Committee believes that given this improvement in the available
data, and given time for thoughtful consideration and discussion,
judicial merit pay raises could and should be implemented.

     Testimony commenting on this measure was submitted by the
Hawaii State Bar Association.  Testimony in opposition to this
measure was submitted by the Judiciary, the Judicial Selection
Commission, and a past president of the Hawaii State Bar
Association.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Deleting statutory amendments that provided authority
          for merit pay raises;

     (2)  Deleting the appropriation for merit pay raises;

     (3)  Requesting that the study of judicial merit pay be
          conducted by the Judiciary, in cooperation with the
          Judicial Selection Commission, the Judicial Salary
          Commission, and the Hawaii State Bar Association, to
          determine the most appropriate method by which a system
          of merit pay may be implemented, a timetable for
          implementation, and recommendations for the use of
          judicial evaluations;

     (4)  Deleting a reference to the Judicial Selection
          Commission as the body conducting judicial performance
          evaluations; and

     (5)  Making technical, non-substantive changes for the
          purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
3177, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3177, S.D. 1, and
be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.


 
a                                                     
 
 
 
                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2290
                                   Page 3


                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
a