A joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs on Feb. (date not specified) advanced multiple bills covering juvenile justice, a proposed settlement fund for the Maui wildfires, criminal identification processing rules and a repeal of the legislature's nepotism exemption. Most measures were passed with amendments or passed as recommended; one measure was deferred for further documentation.

The committees moved first on SB 7 81, which would appropriate $300,000 to support the judiciary’s Aloha initiatives. Johanna Cho Tam, administrator of the judiciary’s Aloha program, testified on behalf of the judiciary and said, “I am Johanna Choct Tam on behalf of the judiciary. I'm the administrator of the judiciary's Aloha program. And I wanna mahalo you for this bill, and your continued support of the judiciary's Aloha initiatives.” The committees voted to pass SB 7 81 with amendments; the chair recorded the recommendation as adopted.

The meeting also advanced SB 13 20, which makes general-fund appropriations to fund a potential settlement of claims related to the Maui wildfires. Deputy Attorney General Randall Nishiyama appeared for the Department of the Attorney General and said the department submitted written comments and was “ready to answer any questions.” During final consideration the chair said the committee would note appropriations in the committee report as approximately $400,000,000 in fiscal 2026 and about $407,000,000 in fiscal 2027; the committee passed the measure with amendments.

On juvenile justice, the committees approved several bills. SB 5 44 requires courts to consider specific factors when sentencing a person convicted as an adult for an offense committed as a minor; Darsha Forrester of the Office of the Public Defender urged passage, saying the bill would create “a system that I think would be more fair.” SB 6 91 would set a minimum age of 12 for delinquency adjudication; witnesses including Human Rights for Kids urged the change and cited national guidance. The committee accepted amendments to align statutory language (including a replacement of the term “delinquency” with a clearer formulation) and passed SB 6 91 with amendments.

SB 10 28, to allow community service in place of fines, fees or court costs for traffic-related offenses committed while a person was a minor, was advanced with technical amendments. Darsha Forrester and others testified in support, explaining the bill’s intent to avoid creating court-imposed debt for juveniles and to give judges flexibility when minors cannot pay or complete imposed obligations. The committee’s action was to pass with amendments.

On criminal identification and records, the committees approved SB 13 19 to require the attorney general’s identification system to include cases initiated by citation that resulted in conviction, deferred acceptance of a guilty or no-contest plea, or conditional discharge. Deputy Attorney General Mark Tom testified the measure would make data held by the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center “accurate, reliable” for courts and authorized agencies. The measure passed after one senator recorded a no vote citing concerns about interaction with expungement policy.

The committees also considered SB 13 10, which would delete the term “agents of contractors” from statute to comply with FBI requirements for background-check authorization. The administration witness said the FBI had flagged the phrase as overly broad; the committees deferred decision-making on SB 13 10 to allow review of the FBI feedback and supporting documents and scheduled a follow-up meeting.

SB 15 45, which would repeal the statutory exemption from anti‑nepotism prohibitions for the legislative branch, was advanced unamended. Robert Harris of the State Ethics Commission submitted staff comments indicating the commission would likely support the measure; public testimony emphasized that eliminating the exemption would increase public trust by applying the same restrictions to the legislature as to other branches.

Votes at a glance
- SB 7 81 (judiciary Aloha initiatives appropriation, $300,000 noted for FY 2026 and FY 2027): passed with amendments; committee recommendation adopted.
- SB 13 20 (general fund appropriations for Maui wildfires settlement): passed with amendments; committee to note appropriations of roughly $400,000,000 (FY26) and $407,000,000 (FY27) in committee report.
- SB 15 14 (work group to study year‑round legislative session): passed with amendments.
- SB 5 44 (judicial consideration of youth backgrounds when sentencing adults for crimes committed as minors): passed as recommended.
- SB 6 91 (establish minimum age of 12 for delinquency adjudication): passed with amendments to align statutory language and remove special-psychologist referral language in HRS §571‑44.
- SB 10 28 (allow community service in lieu of fines/fees for traffic offenses committed as juveniles): passed with technical amendments.
- SB 13 10 (delete “agents of contractors” in statutes to meet FBI requirements): deferred for further documentation and FBI guidance.
- SB 13 19 (require identification processing for citation-initiated cases leading to convictions or deferred pleas): passed with amendments; recorded minority no votes raised concerns about expungement interaction.
- SB 15 45 (remove legislative exemption from state anti‑nepotism law): passed unamended.

Why this matters
The package addresses several policy areas with concrete operational impact: juvenile sentencing and adjudication standards that could change how minors are treated in the justice system; significant potential state expenditures tied to the Maui settlement that would affect the general fund; changes to criminal-identification processing that alter how citation cases are recorded in statewide data; and internal ethics rules for the legislature. Several measures include implementation details that will require cross‑agency coordination (for example, identification processing and community-service programs) or further documentation (the FBI guidance for background checks).

What’s next
Most measures advanced out of committee with recommendations to pass; next steps are floor consideration and any further amendments in the Senate. SB 13 10 was deferred to permit review of FBI feedback; the committees scheduled a follow-up meeting to review the bureau’s comments and adjust statutory language if needed.