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Judiciary seeks to make women's court permanent, expand Wahiawa hub and continue criminal‑justice data institute funding
Summary
The judiciary told the House Finance Committee it wants to make its women’s court permanent (7 positions plus an 8th substance‑use counselor), expand a truancy/early‑education intervention program on Oahu, staff a new Wahiawa District Court hub and continue funding for the Criminal Justice Research Institute’s pretrial database.
Judiciary officials told the House Committee on Finance they are seeking funding to make a three‑year women’s‑court pilot permanent, to expand truancy/early‑education services on Oahu, to staff a new Wahiawa District Court hub and to continue support for the Criminal Justice Research Institute’s data work.
Women’s court and specialty courts: The judiciary said the women’s court pilot (created by the legislature) acknowledges that many women who enter the justice system have histories of trauma, mental‑health or substance‑use disorders. The pilot included seven positions; the judiciary asked the committee to fund those seven permanently and add an eighth substance‑use counselor. The judiciary said in‑house counseling could reduce contract costs and better serve participants.
Wahiawa District Court hub: The judiciary said the new Wahiawa facility (planned to open spring 2026) will be a full‑service district court with two courtrooms, customer service, probation services and will serve as a second hub on Oahu to reduce travel burdens for rural residents. To staff the facility, the judiciary requested funding for supplemental security (contracted interior patrol, after‑hours exterior coverage), an additional janitor, an on‑site IT technician, district court clerks, bailiffs and restored social‑worker positions to provide probation and treatment services locally.
Kona district court judge: The judiciary asked for funding and staff for an additional district court judge in Kona and noted statutory authorization will require a separate bill; the island’s single district court judge currently handles a near‑16,000 annual caseload and is on call frequently.
Criminal Justice Research Institute (CJRI): The judiciary outlined CJRI’s role collecting and aggregating criminal‑justice data and said the institute has contracted for technical work, ingested 15 years of data from several agencies and expects to complete the foundational data warehouse by March–April; dashboards and public reporting are planned thereafter. Dr. Erin Harbinson, CJRI director, told the committee the most time‑consuming work is restructuring diverse court data files into a centralized, research‑ready warehouse.
Ending: Judiciary leaders said they will follow up with the committee on position repurposing details, statutory language for the Kona judge and continued CJRI timelines; members asked for performance data on specialty courts and confirmation the CJRI will coordinate with other state IT efforts.
