STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2804

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                   

 

RE:     S.B. No. 2566

 

 

 

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 S.B. No. 2566 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 remove the requirement that requests to withhold from public inspection the petition record of a denied temporary restraining order or denied protective order be made orally.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Hawaiʻi State Democratic Women's Caucus, and two individuals.

 

     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 this, existing law allows the court to issue an order that withholds a denied petition from public inspection.  However, in order to issue these orders, existing law requires that the respondent make an oral request at a court hearing.  Given the fact that requests for temporary restraining orders are reviewed or submitted on an ex parte basis and generally without a hearing, there is no ability for respondents to make these oral requests under ordinary circumstances.  This measure addresses this problem 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 S.B. No. 2566 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,

 

 

 

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair