Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 774 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to require the Judiciary to provide mandatory training and education of judges who handle family law or domestic violence cases, or both.

Supportive testimony was submitted by the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center, and concerned citizens. Testimony in opposition was submitted by the Office of the Public Defender. Comments were also submitted by the Judiciary.

Your Committee agrees that training judges on family law and domestic abuse issues serves a public good. The Judiciary representative testified that the Judiciary has already incorporated domestic violence as part of the education and training for judges and staff. Since December 1994, Hawaii's judges and Judiciary staff have attended eight domestic violence conferences.

While the Judiciary objected to the statutory need for training, your Committee asserts that such training should be a prerequisite for any newly appointed judge or judge serving on a per dium basis who handles these types of cases. However, due to the limited availability of State resources, it is unclear whether the State may adequately fund this program.

Your Committee has been informed that the State may be able to expend funds authorized by the federal Violence Against Women Act for this purpose. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill to require training for newly appointed judges and per dium judges subject to the availability of federal funding.

It is the intent of your Committee that no general fund appropriations be utilized for this purpose.

Lastly, various technical, nonsubstantive amendments were made for purposes of clarity, style, and conformity.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 774, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 774, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.