STAND. COM. REP. NO. 953

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 301

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Economic Development and Technology and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 301 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY COMPUTER SYSTEM SPECIAL FUND,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require that all fees collected for electronic document certification, electronic copies of documents, and for providing bulk access to electronic court records and compilations of data shall be deposited into the Judiciary Computer System Special Fund.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary.

 

Your Committees find that the Judiciary Computer System Special Fund was established in 1996, to provide a source of revenue to enable the Judiciary to upgrade its computer system and increase computer-based digital and electronic document filing related to traffic enforcement and civil, criminal, and appellate case processing and management.  The Judiciary has testified that the Special Fund has been used for a number of major technology initiatives including the implementation of the Judiciary Information Management System (JIMS), an automated integrated case management system that will improve court operations and how courts conduct business and interface with the public.  To date, JIMS has been implemented for the Traffic and Appellate courts and the statewide Jury system.

 

Your Committees are supportive of the Judiciary's efforts to date, but your Committees are also concerned that these technology initiatives do not appear to be taking place in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.  As a result, the income generated to fund the technology upgrades has not reached the levels anticipated when the Special Fund was established.

 

Your Committees urge the Judiciary to review their actions to date, the results, and any unanticipated consequences that may have affected the revenue intended for the Judiciary Computer System Special Fund.

 

Your Committees have amended this measure accordingly by:

 

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to allow for further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development and Technology and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 301, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 301, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development and Technology and Judiciary and Labor,

 

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair

 

____________________________

CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair