HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

14

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT A SUNRISE REVIEW OF THE REGULATION OF PROCESS SERVERS.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that there is a need to re-examine the issue of regulating process servers; and

WHEREAS, "service of process" refers to the delivery of formal court documents to a person to give notice that a civil or criminal case has been filed against that person; and

WHEREAS, in 1989, the Legislature enacted Act 123, relating to service of process, which required the issuance of licenses to engage in business or serve in the capacity of a process server; and

WHEREAS, in 1991, the Legislature adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 42, requesting an after-the-fact sunrise analysis of whether there was a reasonable need to regulate process servers to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public; and

WHEREAS, the Auditor subsequently concluded that the public interest was best served by not regulating process servers, noting that the federal government and most other states did not regulate them; and

WHEREAS, in concluding that a new regulatory program for civil process servers was not warranted, the Auditor noted that while delays in service of process can harm plaintiffs who seek to obtain a judgment while the defendant still has assets, the plaintiff’s attorney is responsible for service; and

WHEREAS, the Auditor further noted that while delays by sheriffs in serving process had been alleged, the remedy for this lies more in market competition than in licensing. Moreover, while defendants could be harmed if the server falsely claimed to have made the delivery, the Auditor found no evidence that this was occurring; and

WHEREAS, the Auditor recommended that chapter 634D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the licensing of civil process servers, be repealed, and that statutes and court rules be amended to follow Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows civil process to be served by any person not a party to the case who is at least eighteen years old; and

WHEREAS, chapter 634D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was subsequently repealed by Act 9, Session Laws of Hawaii 1994, and Rule 4 (c) (1), Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure, was subsequently amended to follow federal rules; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that there is a need for the Auditor to re-examine the issue of the regulation of process servers to protect Hawaii’s consumers; and

WHEREAS, House Bill No.     was introduced in the House of Representatives during the Regular Session of 2002 to provide for the regulation of civil process servers as a profession; and

WHEREAS, section 26H-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires that new regulatory measures that would subject unregulated professions or vocations to licensing or other regulatory controls are to be referred to the Auditor for analysis of the probable effects of the proposed regulatory measure and an assessment as to whether the enactment is consistent with the policies set forth in section 26H-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as well as an assessment of alternative forms of regulation; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to perform a sunrise review of the regulation of process servers as provided for in House Bill No.    , as introduced during the Regular Session of 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Auditor; Sunrise Review of the Regulation of Process Servers