Bill Text: HI HR66 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Judiciary To Study The Feasibility Of Opening Community Outreach Courts In Puna And Kau.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-04-04 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HR66 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-HR66-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	66
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE JUDICIARY TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF OPENING COMMUNITY OUTREACH COURTS IN PUNA AND KAU.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the State's first Community Outreach Court has been open in Honolulu for one year as of January 2018; and

 

     WHEREAS, the purpose of Community Outreach Court is to offer combined accountability and treatment options to offenders who may have difficulty resolving cases in a traditional court setting or paying fines imposed; and

 

     WHEREAS, the sentences imposed often utilize alternatives to incarceration or fines, such as community service and mandatory participation in programs deemed appropriate for individual offenders based on their need for specific mental health services, substance abuse treatment, sustenance, and shelter; and

 

     WHEREAS, in its first year of operation, the Honolulu Community Outreach Court has assisted fifty-seven homeless defendants, resolved six hundred one cases involving low-level, nonviolent offenses, imposed nearly six hundred eighty community service hours in lieu of fines or jail, secured housing for nine defendants, helped eleven defendants obtain employment, and facilitated entry into a substance abuse treatment program for five defendants; and

 

     WHEREAS, residents of the island of Hawaii are sometimes cited or arrested for similar low-level and nonviolent offenses; and

 

     WHEREAS, valuable time and resources are currently being expended to bring these individuals to court; and

 

     WHEREAS, for Puna residents, going to court means making a two-hour trip to the Hilo courthouse because the courthouse that previously served Puna closed on August 1, 2009, and the Kau District Court moved its hearings to Kona District Court in October 2010; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that the Judiciary is requested to study the feasibility of opening Community Outreach Courts in Puna and Kau; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Judiciary is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Community Outreach Courts in Puna and Kau; Feasibility Study