STAND. COM. REP. NO. 379-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1626

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 1626 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO YOUTH PENALTIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit the assessment of any fees, fines, or court costs against a person who was adjudicated for an offense committed during the person's minority, or against the person's parent or guardian, and discharge all related debt obligations assessed before the effective date of the Act;

(2) Encourage the use of community service and other programs that employ ʻaina-based principles; and

(3) Repeal certain penalties imposed on parents, guardians, or other persons associated with unaccompanied children in streets and unmarried minors in dance halls.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Office of the Public Defender; ACLU of Hawaii; ʻEkolu Mea Nui; Debt Free Justice Hawaiʻi; Opportunity for Youth Action Hawaiʻi; Oʻahu Youth Action Board; The Libertarian Party of Hawaiʻi; Na ʻOpio Waiwai; Adult Friends for Youth; and nine individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education and one individual.

Your Committee finds that imposing fines and court costs on youth and their families is harmful, ineffective, and disproportionately impacts Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander minors. Your Committee further finds that assessing fines in juvenile justice proceedings is not an evidence-based practice for rehabilitating, deterring, or punishing delinquent youth and notes the Judiciary's acknowledgment in testimony that family courts rarely impose fines, fees, or court costs against minors or their parents and that collection rates on fines, fees, and court costs imposed on minors are relatively low.

Your Committee additionally finds that many states have reformed or repealed fees and fines against minors and their families and have discharged outstanding financial penalties that minors and their families have been unable to pay. This measure would align state laws with these actions of other states and encourage practices that would more effectively lower recidivism rates.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that either a school's principal or the principal's designee is authorized to act where needed;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee notes the Judiciary's request for an effective date of July 1, 2027, which would allow sufficient time to make and test the operational changes in the district courts necessary to implement this measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1626, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1626, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services & Homelessness,

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair