[§604C-5]  Court process.  (a)  The court shall hold hearings at community sites to dispose of cases for which the prosecuting attorney and public defender have negotiated and reached plea agreements on the disposition of the defendants.

     (b)  The court may only hear and dispose of cases involving nonviolent, nonfelony offenses under laws of the State and ordinances of the city and county of Honolulu determined to be appropriate by the department of the prosecuting attorney of the city and county of Honolulu.

     (c)  The public defender shall engage a social service or health care professional to provide outreach services to defendants charged with nonviolent, nonfelony offenses who:

     (1)  Are willing to participate in the court;

     (2)  Are willing to be represented by the public defender; and

     (3)  May benefit from participation in the court.

     After consulting with the social service or health care professional, the public defender shall develop a list of the defendants who are potential participants in the court and transmit the list to the prosecuting attorney.

     (d)  Defendants on the potential participant list charged by the department of the prosecuting attorney of the city and county of Honolulu shall be reviewed by the prosecuting attorney, who will decide whether they should participate in the court proceedings.  The prosecuting attorney may enter into plea agreement negotiations with the public defender for disposition of those defendants accepted into the community outreach court.

     (e)  The plea agreement for a defendant may include a fine, community service, court-ordered treatment, other court-ordered condition, or any other action that the court has the authority to take and deems appropriate.

     (f)  At the hearing, the court may finalize the plea agreement by court order or judgment; provided that the court shall not be bound by the proposed disposition in the plea agreement. [L 2025, c 229, pt of §2]