HB1705 • 2026

RELATING TO CHILD CUSTODY.

Children Education

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: KEOHOKAPU-LEE LOY, AMATO, ILAGAN, KAHALOA, KILA, KITAGAWA, KUSCH, MARTEN, MATAYOSHI, MIYAKE, MORIKAWA, OLDS, TAKAYAMA, TAM, TODD, WOODSON
Last action: 2026-04-23
Official status: Transmitted to Governor.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about the training or certification of LMHCs as evaluators, nor does it confirm immediate reductions in wait times or cost impacts.

Expanding Child Custody Evaluators

This bill allows licensed mental health counselors to be appointed as child custody evaluators in family court cases.

What This Bill Does

Allows licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs) to become child custody evaluators.
Adds LMHCs to the list of professionals who can serve as child custody evaluators.

Who It Names or Affects

Families involved in family court proceedings
Licensed mental health counselors

Terms To Know

Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC): A professional with graduate-level education and training in mental health counseling.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how the new evaluators will be trained or certified.
It is unclear if this change will immediately reduce wait times for custody evaluations.
The impact on costs may vary depending on individual cases and regions.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: This amendment allows licensed mental health counselors to be appointed as child custody evaluators in Hawaii, expanding the pool of qualified professionals.

Adds licensed mental health counselors under chapter 453D to the list of eligible professionals who can serve as child custody evaluators.

The amendment specifies an effective date of July 1, 3000, which seems incorrect and likely needs correction.
Further details on how this change will be implemented or enforced are not provided in the given text.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: This amendment allows licensed mental health counselors to be appointed as child custody evaluators in Hawaii, expanding the pool of qualified professionals.

Adds licensed mental health counselors (under chapter 453D) to the list of eligible professionals who can serve as child custody evaluators.

The amendment does not provide details on how the new provision will be implemented or enforced.
It is unclear if there are additional requirements for licensed mental health counselors beyond their current qualifications to become child custody evaluators.

SD2

Hawaii published version SD2

Plain English: This amendment allows licensed mental health counselors to serve as child custody evaluators, expanding the pool of qualified professionals.

Adds a new category allowing licensed mental health counselors (under chapter 453D) to be appointed as child custody evaluators.

The amendment does not provide specific details on how the addition will affect costs, wait times, or overall quality of evaluations.

Bill History

2026-04-24 S
Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 823).
2026-04-23 H
Transmitted to Governor.
2026-04-23 H
Passed Final Reading as amended in SD 2 with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Evslin excused (1).
2026-04-23 H
House agrees to Senate amendment(s).
2026-04-23 S
Received notice of House reconsideration of action in disagreeing to the amendments proposed by the Senate (Hse. Com. No. 815).
2026-04-22 H
Reconsideration of action taken on 04-16-26.
2026-04-17 S
Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 780).
2026-04-16 H
House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
2026-04-14 H
Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 606) in amended form (SD 2).
2026-04-14 S
Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2026-04-10 S
48 Hrs. Notice 04-14-26.
2026-04-10 S
Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3763) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).
2026-04-01 S
The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard.
2026-03-25 S
The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 04-01-26 10:30AM; CR 016 & Videoconference.
2026-03-23 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC.
2026-03-23 S
Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3129) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.
2026-03-16 S
The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fevella.
2026-03-13 S
The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-16-26 1:10PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.
2026-03-10 S
Referred to HHS, JDC.
2026-03-10 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-03-10 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 149).
2026-03-06 H
Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Quinlan, Sayama excused (3). Transmitted to Senate.
2026-03-06 H
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 989-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2026-02-25 H
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Cochran, Hashem, Kahaloa, Sayama, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti.
2026-02-23 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Wednesday, 02-25-26 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-17 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lee, M., Poepoe excused (3).
2026-02-17 H
Reported from HSH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 310-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
2026-02-03 H
The committee on HSH recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Olds, Amato, Hartsfield, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Takayama, Takenouchi, Alcos; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Garcia; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2026-01-29 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by HSH on Tuesday, 02-03-26 9:00AM in House conference room 329 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-01-26 H
Referred to HSH, JHA, referral sheet 1
2026-01-21 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2026-01-20 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO CHILD CUSTODY.
Judiciary; Family Court; Child Custody Evaluators; Licensed Mental Health Counselors
Allows licensed mental health counselors to be appointed as child custody evaluators. (SD2)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB1705

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1705

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to child custody
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION 1.
�
The
legislature finds that the State faces significant challenges in providing
timely and equitable child custody evaluations for families engaged in family
court proceedings.
�
Existing law
authorizes certain mental health professionals with master's degree-level
training to serve as child custody evaluators but does not extend this
opportunity to licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs).
�
LMHCs possess equivalent graduate-level
education, training, and clinical expertise as their peers who are already
eligible to serve as child custody evaluators.

����
The legislature further finds that there is
a high demand for child custody evaluations across the State, resulting in
backlogs and extended wait times that delay critical decisions impacting
children's health, safety, and well-being.
�

The State's limited pool of qualified child custody evaluators
exacerbates these delays, as courts frequently struggle to secure professionals
who are available to take on new cases promptly.

����
The legislature recognizes that child custody
evaluations are highly complex and require specialized mental health training,
clinical experience, and the ability to conduct thorough investigations and
provide accurate, unbiased reports to the court.
�
LMHCs meet these professional standards and
are well-equipped to provide these evaluations.

����
The legislature additionally finds that the
State faces a severe shortage of mental health professionals overall.
�
By excluding LMHCs from serving as child custody
evaluators, existing law unnecessarily restricts a significant portion of the
State's qualified workforce from contributing to this critical area of
need.
�
This artificial limitation on
supply has also driven up the costs of child custody evaluations, making them
prohibitively expensive for many families.
�

These high costs can perpetuate inequities in family court proceedings,
including situations where one parent may be unable to afford an evaluation,
thereby placing them at a disadvantage and potentially enabling patterns of
financial or coercive abuse.

����
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to
allow
licensed mental health counselors to be appointed as child custody evaluators
in the State, thereby expanding the pool of qualified professionals, reducing
costs, alleviating delays, and ensuring families have greater access to timely
and equitable child custody determinations.

����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section 571-46.4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

����
"
(a)
�
Subject to subsection (c), a person may be
appointed as a child custody evaluator for purposes of section 571-46 if the
person is actively licensed as a:

����
(1)
�
Marriage and family therapist under chapter
451J;

����
(2)
�
Physician under chapter 453 and is a board
certified psychiatrist or has completed a residency in psychiatry;

����
(3)
�
Mental health counselor under chapter 453D;

���
[
(3)
]

(4)
�

Psychologist under chapter 465; or

���
[
(4)
]

(5)
�

Clinical social worker under section 467E‑7(a)(3).
"

����
SECTION 3.
�

Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory material is underscored.

����
SECTION 4.
�

This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Judiciary;
Family Court; Child Custody Evaluators; Licensed Mental Health Counselors

Description:

Allows
licensed mental health counselors to be appointed as child custody evaluators.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.