STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3657

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2090

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2090 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DOMESTIC ABUSE ORDERS FOR PROTECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to allow requests to withhold from public inspection the petition record of a denied temporary restraining order or denied protective order to be made in writing, rather than only orally.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii State Bar Association, Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that retaliatory counter-petitions can negatively impact domestic abuse victims' employment and housing prospects and hinder the victims' efforts to gain physical and financial independence from their abusers. To address these retaliatory counterpetitions, section 586-4(g), Hawaii Revised Statutes, allows courts to issue an order that withholds a denied petition from public inspection. However, in order to issue these orders, existing law requires the respondent to make an oral request at a court hearing. Given that requests for temporary restraining orders are reviewed and submitted on an ex parte basis and generally without a hearing, there is no ability for respondents to make an oral request. This measure addresses this issue by aligning existing law with the realities of ex parte proceedings and fundamental principles of procedural fairness.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2090, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair