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SB1316
THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
1316
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO COURT-ORDERED PAYMENTS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
����
SECTION 1.
�
Section 601-17.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:
����
"
�601-17.5
�
Collection of delinquent court-ordered payments.
�
The judiciary [
may
]
shall
contract
with a collection agency bonded under chapter 443B or with a licensed attorney to
collect any delinquent court-ordered [
penalties,
]
fees,
fines, [
restitution,
]
sanctions, and court costs[
, including juvenile monetary assessments
].
�
Any fees or costs associated with the collection
efforts shall be added to the amount due and retained by the collection agency as
its payment; provided that no fees or costs shall exceed fifty per cent of the amount
collected."
����
SECTION
2.
�
Section 706-642, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is amended to read as follows:
����
"
�706-642
�
Time and method of payment.
�
(1)
�
When
a defendant is sentenced to pay a
fee,
fine,
or
restitution,
the court may grant permission for the payment to be made within
a specified period of time or in specified installments.
�
If no such permission is embodied in the sentence,
the
fee,
fine
, or restitution
shall be payable forthwith by cash,
check, or by a credit card approved by the court.
����
(2)
�
When a defendant sentenced to pay a
fee,
fine
, or restitution
is also sentenced to probation, the court may make the
payment of the
fee,
fine
, or restitution
a condition of probation.
����
(3)
�
When a defendant sentenced to pay a
fee or
fine is also ordered to make restitution or reparation to the victim or victims,
or to the person or party who has incurred loss or damage because of the defendant's
crime, the payment of restitution or reparation shall have priority over the payment
of the
fee or
fine, pursuant to section 706-651.
�
No
fee or
fine shall be collected until
the restitution or reparation order has been satisfied."
����
SECTION
3.
�
Section 706-644, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is amended to read as follows:
����
"
�706-644
�
Consequences of nonpayment; imprisonment for contumacious
nonpayment; summary collection.
�
(1)
�
When a defendant is sentenced pursuant to section
706-605, granted a conditional discharge pursuant to section 712-1255, or granted
a deferred plea pursuant to chapter 853, and the defendant is ordered to pay a fee,
fine, or restitution, whether as an independent order, as part of a judgment and
sentence, or as a condition of probation or deferred plea, [
and
]
the court
shall set a proof of compliance hearing; provided that the court may further order
that the defendant need not appear for the proof of compliance hearing if all fees,
fines, and restitution have been paid in full and all other sentencing requirements
have been met before a designated date, which may be earlier than the proof of compliance
date.
�
At each proof of compliance hearing,
if the defendant appears and is in compliance, but has not yet paid all fees, fines,
and restitution in full, the court shall order a further proof of compliance hearing
within one year or as soon as practicable until the fees, fines, or restitution
have been paid in full.
�
If
the defendant
defaults in the payment thereof [
or of any installment
], the court[
, upon
the motion of the prosecuting attorney or upon its own motion, may
]
shall
require the defendant to show cause why the defendant's default should not be treated
as contumacious
,
and [
may
]
, if the defendant fails to appear, the
court shall
issue a summons or a warrant of arrest for the defendant's appearance.
�
Unless the defendant shows that the defendant's
default was not attributable to an intentional refusal to obey the order of the
court, or to a failure on the defendant's part to make a good faith effort to obtain
the funds required for the payment, the court shall find that the defendant's default
was contumacious and may order the defendant committed until the fee, fine, restitution,
or a specified part thereof is paid[
.
]
; provided that if the fees, fines,
and restitution are not paid in full the court shall order further proof of compliance
hearings every six months or less until the court is satisfied that the defendant
will appear and remain in compliance.
����
(2)
�
When a fee, fine, or restitution is imposed on
a corporation or unincorporated association, it [
is
]
shall be
the
duty of the person or persons authorized to make disbursement from the assets of
the corporation or association to pay it from those assets, and their failure to
do so may be held contumacious unless they make the showing required in subsection
(1).
����
(3)
�
The term of imprisonment for nonpayment of fee,
fine, or restitution shall be specified in the order of commitment, and shall not
exceed one day for each $250 of the fee or fine, thirty days if the fee or fine
was imposed upon conviction of a violation or a petty misdemeanor, or one year in
any other case, whichever is the shorter period.
�
A person committed for nonpayment of a fee or
fine shall be given credit toward payment of the fee or fine for each day of imprisonment,
at the rate of $250 per day.
����
(4)
�
If it appears that the defendant's default in
the payment of a fee, fine, or restitution is not contumacious, the court may make
an order allowing the defendant additional time for payment, reducing the amount
of each installment, or revoking the fee, fine, or the unpaid portion thereof in
whole or in part, or converting the unpaid portion of the fee or fine to community
service.
�
A defendant shall not be discharged
from an order to pay restitution until the full amount of the restitution has actually
been collected or accounted for.
����
(5)
�
Unless discharged by payment or, in the case of
a fee or fine, service of imprisonment pursuant to subsection (3), an order to pay
a fee, fine, or restitution, whether as an independent order, as a part of a judgment
and sentence, or as a condition of probation or deferred plea pursuant to chapter
853, may be collected in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.
�
The State or the victim named in the order may
collect the restitution, including costs, interest, and attorney's fees, pursuant
to section 706-646.
�
The State may collect
the fee or fine, including costs, interest, and attorney's fees
,
pursuant
to section 706-647.
����
(6)
�
Attorney's fees, costs, and interest shall not
be deemed part of the penalty, and no person shall be imprisoned under this section
in default of payment of attorney's fees, costs, and interest.
����
(7)
�
For purposes of this section, "default"
means failure to pay a fee, fine, or restitution within a period of time specified
by the court pursuant to section 706-642, or failure to pay three consecutive installments
of a fee, fine, or restitution, whichever occurs first.
"
����
SECTION
4.
�
Section 806-73, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is
amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
����
"
(b)
�
All adult probation records shall be confidential and shall not be deemed
to be public records.
�
As used in this section,
the term "records" includes but is not limited to all records made by
any adult probation officer in the course of performing the probation officer's
official duties.
�
The records, or the content
of the records, shall be divulged only as follows:
����
(1)
�
A copy of any adult probation case record
or of a portion of it, or the case record itself, upon request, may be provided
to:
���������
(A)
�
An
adult
probation officer,
court officer, social worker of a Hawaii state adult probation unit, or a family
court officer who is preparing a report for the courts; or
���������
(B)
�
A
state
or federal criminal
justice agency, or state or federal court program that:
�������������
(i)
�
Is
providing
supervision of a defendant or offender convicted and sentenced by the courts of
Hawaii; or
������������
(ii)
�
Is
responsible
for the preparation of a report for a court;
����
(2)
�
The residence address, work address, home telephone
number, or work telephone number of a current or former defendant shall be provided
only to:
���������
(A)
�
A law enforcement officer as defined in section
710-1000 to locate the probationer for the purpose of serving a summons or bench
warrant in a civil, criminal, or deportation hearing, or for the purpose of a criminal
investigation; or
���������
(B)
�
A
collection
agency or licensed
attorney contracted by the judiciary to collect any delinquent
court-ordered [
penalties,
]
fees,
fines, [
restitution,
] sanctions,
and court
costs
pursuant to section 601-17.5;
����
(3)
�
A copy of a presentence report or investigative
report shall be provided only to:
���������
(A)
�
The persons or entities named in section
706-604;
���������
(B)
�
The Hawaii paroling authority;
���������
(C)
�
Any psychiatrist, psychologist, or other
treatment practitioner who is treating the defendant pursuant to a court order or
parole order for that treatment;
���������
(D)
�
The intake service centers;
���������
(E)
�
In accordance with applicable law, persons
or entities doing research; and
���������
(F)
�
Any Hawaii state adult probation officer
or adult probation officer of another state or federal jurisdiction who:
�������������
(i)
�
Is engaged in the supervision of a defendant
or offender convicted and sentenced in the courts of Hawaii; or
������������
(ii)
�
Is engaged in the preparation of a report
for a court regarding a defendant or offender convicted and sentenced in the courts
of Hawaii;
����
(4)
�
Access to adult probation records by a victim,
as defined in section 706-646 to enforce an order filed pursuant to section 706-647,
shall be limited to the:
���������
(A)
�
Name and contact information of the defendant's
adult probation officer;
���������
(B)
�
Compliance record of the defendant with
court-ordered payments;
���������
(C)
�
Amounts paid by the defendant;
���������
(D)
�
Dates of the payments made by the defendant;
���������
(E)
�
Payee of payments made by the defendant;
and
���������
(F)
�
Remaining unpaid balance,
without
the assessment of a filing fee or surcharge;
����
(5)
�
Upon written request, the victim, or the parent
or guardian of a minor victim or incapacitated victim, of a defendant who has been
placed on probation for an offense under section 580-10(d)(1), 586-4(e), 586‑11(a),
or 709-906 may be notified by the defendant's probation officer when the probation
officer has any information relating to the safety and
welfare
of the victim;
����
(6)
�
Notwithstanding paragraph (3) and upon notice to
the defendant, records and information relating to the defendant's risk assessment
and need for treatment services; information related to the defendant's past treatment
and assessments, with the prior written consent of the defendant for information
from a treatment service provider; provided that for any substance abuse records
such release shall be subject to title 42 Code of Federal Regulations part 2, relating
to the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records; and information
that has therapeutic or rehabilitative benefit, may be provided to:
���������
(A)
�
A case management, assessment, or treatment service
provider assigned by adult probation to service the defendant; provided that such
information shall be given only upon the acceptance or admittance of the defendant
into a
treatment
program;
���������
(B)
�
Correctional case manager, correctional unit
manager
,
and parole officers involved with the defendant's treatment or supervision; and
���������
(C)
�
In accordance with applicable law, persons
or entities doing research;
����
(7)
�
Probation drug test results may be released with
prior written consent of a defendant to the defendant's treating physician when
test results indicate substance use which may be compromising the defendant's medical
care or treatment;
����
(8)
�
Records
obtained pursuant
to section 704-404(9) may be made available as provided in that section;
����
(9)
�
Any person, agency, or entity receiving records,
or contents of records, pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to the same
restrictions on disclosure of the records as Hawaii state adult probation offices;
and
���
(10)
�
Any person who uses the information covered by
this subsection for purposes inconsistent with the intent of this subsection or
outside of the scope of the person's official duties shall be fined no more than
$500."
����
SECTION
5.
�
This Act does not affect rights and duties
that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before
its effective date.
����
SECTION
6.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed
and stricken.
�
New statutory material is underscored.
����
SECTION
7.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
BY REQUEST
Report Title:
Penal Code; Fees, Fines, and Restitution; Collections; Consequences
of Nonpayment
Description:
Requires the Judiciary to contract with a collection agency
or licensed attorney to collect delinquent court-ordered fees, fines, sanctions,
and court costs.
�
Repeals the authority of
the Judiciary to contract with a collection agency or licensed attorney to collect
delinquent restitution.
�
Expressly allows
courts to specify a period of time or installments for payment of fees and restitution.
�
Requires courts to hold payment compliance hearings
once per year or as soon as practicable, until all fees, fines, and restitution
are fully paid, and requires a defendant to appear and show cause if the defendant
fails to pay in full within a time specified by the court or fails to pay three
consecutive installments.
�
Makes corresponding
amendments to related statutes.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.