HCR18

WHEREAS, in the 2006 Regular Session, the Senate and the House of Representatives adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 52, S.D.1, authorizing the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives to convene interim hearings on the use of legal interventions available to the Family Court; and

WHEREAS, during the course of the interim hearings, four committees were formed relating to Family Court Models, Family Court Sunshine and Accountability, Temporary Restraining Orders, and the Best Interests of the Child; and

WHEREAS, after hours of hard work and meetings, the Family Court Models Committee submitted its findings and recommendations to the Committees on Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which adopted its recommendations regarding the need to evaluate the current assessment of domestic violence matters and the possible establishment of a domestic violence court in the First Circuit Family Court; and

WHEREAS, the Family Court Models Committee identified a need for child custody matters involving domestic violence to be properly screened or assessed early in the Family Court process and proposed the possible creation of a special processing mechanism or a domestic violence court to improve the handling and the outcomes of these cases; and

WHEREAS, similar initiatives have been launched in other states, such as New York where a coordinated response to domestic violence has helped improve victim safety and enhance defendant accountability; and

WHEREAS, New York's state court system is also piloting integrated domestic violence courts that enable one judge to oversee criminal cases, orders of protection, custody, visitation, and divorce matters for one family; and

WHEREAS, two of the goals of such an integrated domestic violence court are to limit the multiple court systems that litigants have to navigate and to reduce the risk of conflicting orders; and

WHEREAS, an analysis should be conducted of Hawaii's current procedures for addressing child custody matters involving domestic violence to determine if Hawaii's state court system is following best practices in that area and if the establishment of a separate domestic violence court would better serve the needs of the community; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Office of the Auditor is requested to access the Family Court's handling of domestic violence matters in the First Circuit Family Court; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Auditor is requested to:

(1) Examine the current policies, procedures, and operations of the First Circuit Family Court for screening or assessing child custody matters involving domestic violence;

(2) Examine the current policies, procedures, and operations of the First Circuit Family Court for addressing child custody matters involving criminal and civil domestic violence; and

(3) Establish findings and develop recommendations on how the First Circuit Family Court may better serve litigants and children involved in domestic violence related child custody cases; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Auditor is requested to report its findings, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Chief Justice.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Judiciary; Domestic Violence

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	18
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII