Chief Justice Recktenwald outlines courthouse projects, access-to-justice priorities and staffing requests in final State of the Judiciary address

Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald told a joint session of the Legislature that the Hawaii Judiciary will open the new Wahiawa District Court next year and asked lawmakers to fund design work for a new Waimea courthouse and to approve three additional social-worker positions on Oahu to expand school-based programs.

Recktenwald, delivering his final State of the Judiciary address, framed the requests as part of broader efforts to expand access to justice, to maintain court operations after the pandemic and Maui wildfires, and to build public trust in the courts. "Good morning and aloha," he began, then described programs aimed at keeping people in their homes, addressing chronic absenteeism, and providing legal help to people who cannot afford attorneys.

The chief justice said the courts continue to carry a heavy caseload: "criminal cases, more than 18,000; civil cases, more than 13,000; family court cases" exceed 13,000, and the courts handled hundreds of thousands of traffic and parking matters. Recktenwald credited remote proceedings adopted during the pandemic with keeping the courts operating, saying the judiciary has held more than 800,000 remote proceedings since 2020.

Recktenwald highlighted the judiciary's response to the 2023 Maui wildfires, noting that courts stayed open to provide continuity for a community in crisis. He described calling Judge Peter Cahill the morning after the fires and learning that the judge was instead selecting a jury for a criminal trial; Recktenwald said that potential jurors still showed up amid the disaster and that court staff and judges — some of whom lost their homes — worked to provide legal help, including hotlines staffed by nearly 300 volunteer attorneys and assistance from legal services providers.

On access to justice, Recktenwald described a statewide network of self-help centers and pro bono efforts that have assisted "nearly 39,000 people" at minimal cost to the state. He described pilot programs to expand representation, including a Supreme Court pilot in Hilo allowing supervised paralegals to represent clients in paternity cases, and pro bono programs for appeals and online resources for court forms available at public libraries. He also noted a recent expungement and bench-warrant-recall clinic in Waimanalo that brought together more than 40 volunteers from 10 organizations.

Recktenwald said treatment and problem-solving courts have expanded since 2010: veterans court, environmental court, women's court (including a 2022 adult women's court pilot), Girls Court (for teenage girls), a driving-while-impaired court created in 2013, and a community outreach court created in 2017 that helps participants address unpaid fines, recall bench warrants and connect to services. He said the community outreach court has "resolved nearly 11,000 cases, recalled close to 900 bench warrants, [and] lifted more than 7,000 license stoppers," and has helped more than 600 participants.

The chief justice also described innovation efforts, including exploring an "AI-powered legal navigator" to help people find legal resources, and wider use of remote proceedings to improve transparency and public access. He noted the Supreme Court has live-streamed oral arguments more than 125 times since 2020 and that the judiciary has taken oral arguments to high schools, reaching more than 6,000 students.

Recktenwald reviewed judicial appointments during his tenure, saying he has appointed 61 new judges who now make up a majority of full-time judges and that the judiciary has improved gender balance among judges. He closed by urging the legislature and public to help build and maintain trust in the courts and by saying, "The law shouldn't be an abstraction. It should always be about helping people find justice," before thanking the legislature and declaring Mahalo and aloha.

Recktenwald's address was ceremonial and policy-setting; no formal votes or motions were recorded during the address itself. The chief justice identified specific requests for legislative funding and staffing (courthouse design funds for Waimea; three social-worker positions on Oahu) but did not present statutory language or appropriation amounts in the speech.