STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1143

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 560

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 560, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide increased funding to the Judiciary to support services contracted with community—based organizations that deliver essential services, streamline judicial processes, and support the Judiciary's capacity to effectively meet the needs of vulnerable households.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary; Department of Human Services; Hawaiʻi Youth Services Network; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Community Alliance on Prisons; Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Parents and Children Together; Kuʻikahi Mediation Center; Volunteer Legal Services Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!; YWCA of Kauaʻi; Hawaiʻi Health and Harm Reduction Center; The Legal Clinic; Adult Friends for Youth; Child and Family Service; Hawaiʻi Community Foundation; Aloha United Way; Legal Aid Society of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi True Cost Coalition; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; Epic ʻOhana; Institute for Human Services, Inc.; Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc.; The Mediation Center of the Pacific, Inc.; Partners in Development Foundation; Responsive Caregivers of Hawaii; Samaritan Counseling Center Hawaii; YMCA of Honolulu; Share Your Mana; Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations; Domestic Violence Action Center; and five individuals.

Your Committee finds that courts and programs of the Judiciary contract with organizations across the State for important services for court users and clients, including anger management classes, emergency shelter services, adult and juvenile sex offender assessment and treatment services, adult and juvenile substance abuse services, mental health assessments for juveniles, certain mental health services, mediation and dispute resolution services, victim advocacy for child physical abuse and child sex trafficking, domestic violence intervention services, sober living and treatment services, and more. Your Committee further finds that these services assist low-income and vulnerable residents in navigating the legal process and avoiding long-term consequences that result without representation or assistance. Additionally, these programs promote confidence in the justice system and the rule of law. This measure will ensure access to justice for all residents of the State, regardless of their economic status or personal circumstances.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of April 23, 2057, to encourage further discussion; and

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

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 H.B. No. 560, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 560, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair