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Committee approves higher pay for court examiners to address multi‑month delays in fitness and responsibility evaluations
Summary
The committee advanced Senate Bill 264 (SD1) to raise court-appointed examiner fees and recommended a $975,000 appropriation after testimony that the number of private examiners statewide has fallen while requests for evaluations have risen, producing evaluation delays of months.
The House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs voted to advance Senate Bill 264, SD1, which would codify and raise compensation for private clinicians who perform court‑ordered penal responsibility and fitness‑to‑proceed examinations and include a requested appropriation to address a statewide shortage of evaluators.
Jennifer Olom, staff attorney for the criminal divisions of the First Circuit, told the committee the judiciary “strongly supports” the measure as part of its package. Olom said the number of available private examiners in the First Circuit had fallen from roughly 15 to six while requests for evaluations have more than doubled, producing delays that have grown from six‑to‑eight weeks to three‑to‑six months. "Because of this, some of them have asked the court to cap their monthly appointments," Olom said.
The judiciary requested that the fee be increased and that the appropriation of $975,000 be included in the bill. Supporters, including the Department of Health and the Hawaii Psychological Association, told the committee the current rates are substantially below other forensic or civil evaluation rates and are deterring younger clinicians from joining the certified examiner list.
Psychologist Alex Lichtden said he has performed roughly 2,000 Chapter 704 evaluations over 17 years and described the shortage: "The examinations that used to be completed in 6 to 8 weeks are now taking 3 to 6 months." He warned that delays increase costs and can keep defendants in corrections or hospital custody longer than necessary.
Chair Rep. Tarnas said the increase—from $1,000 to $2,000 per examiner referenced in committee discussion—was “long overdue,” and the committee voted to advance the bill as filed and include the judiciary’s appropriation request in the committee report.
Why it matters: Delays in mental‑health forensic evaluations affect defendants’ access to constitutionally required processes and increase pressure on correctional and hospital capacity. The committee advanced the measure to address workforce and payment rate shortfalls that stakeholders say are driving the shortage.
The bill will carry the committee’s recommendation and appropriation request to the next stage for funding consideration.
