RELATING TO JURISDICTION.

SB2108

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2108

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to jurisdiction
.

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

����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that children who are
prosecuted as adults often come from traumatic home and community
environments.
�
Research has shown that
more than seventy per cent of children tried as adults experienced both
emotional and physical abuse, while another forty-five per cent were sexually
abused before their involvement in the justice system.
�
Approximately one third of these minors were
also victims of human trafficking, with one in ten reporting that they
committed their offense alongside a co-defendant or victim in the case who
previously abused them.

����
The legislature further finds that more
than eighty per cent of minors who enter the adult criminal justice system come
from homes where one or both parents are absent and more than twenty-five per
cent had previous involvement in the foster care or child welfare system.
�
Additionally, research has demonstrated that
early childhood trauma is significantly associated with early onset post
traumatic stress disorder, which has been linked to adverse brain development
in children.

����
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

����
(1)
�
Amend
the factors a family court is required to consider in deciding whether the
court may waive jurisdiction over a minor or adult held for criminal
proceedings;

����
(2)
�
Preserve
the family court's jurisdiction over a minor transferred for criminal
proceedings for subsequent acts that would otherwise be within the family
court's jurisdiction; and

����
(3)
�
Require
the court to retain jurisdiction over a minor if the court finds by clear and
convincing evidence that the minor was trafficked, sexually abused, or raped by
the alleged victim in the case before or during the commission of the alleged
offense.

����
SECTION

2
.
�
Section 571-22,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�571-22
�

Waiver of jurisdiction; transfer to other courts.
�
(a)
�

The court may waive jurisdiction and order a minor or adult held for
criminal proceedings after full investigation and hearing where the person
during the person's minority, but on or after the person's sixteenth birthday,
is alleged to have committed an act that would constitute a felony if committed
by an adult, and the court finds that:

����
(1)
�
There is no evidence the person is
committable to an institution for individuals with intellectual disabilities or
the mentally ill;

����
(2)
�
The person is not treatable in any
available institution or facility within the State designed for the care and
treatment of children; or

����
(3)
�
The safety of the community requires
that the person be subject to judicial restraint for a period extending beyond
the person's minority.

����
(b)
�
The court may waive jurisdiction and order a
minor or adult held for criminal proceedings if, after a full investigation and
hearing, the court finds that:

����
(1)
�
The person during the person's
minority, but on or after the person's fourteenth birthday, is alleged to have
committed an act that would constitute a felony if committed by an adult and
either:

���������
(A)
�
The act resulted in serious bodily
injury to a victim;

���������
(B)
�
The act would constitute a class A
felony if committed by an adult; or

���������
(C)
�
The person has more than one prior
adjudication for acts that would constitute felonies if committed by an adult;
and

����
(2)
�
There is no evidence the person is
committable to an institution for individuals with intellectual disabilities or
the mentally ill.

����
(c)
�
The factors to be considered in deciding
whether jurisdiction should be waived under subsection (a) or (b) are as
follows:

����
(1)
�
The seriousness of the alleged offense;

����
(2)
�
Whether the alleged offense was
committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated, or wilful manner;

����
(3)
�
Whether the alleged offense was against
persons or against property, greater weight being given to offenses against
persons, especially if personal injury resulted;

����
(4)
�
[
The desirability of trial and
disposition of the entire offense in one court when the minor's associates in
the alleged offense are adults who will be charged with a crime;
]
Whether
and to what extent adult co-defendants were involved and exerted undue
influence or peer pressure on the minor's participation in the offense;

����
(5)
�
The sophistication and maturity of the
minor as determined by consideration of the minor's home, environmental
situation, emotional attitude, and pattern of living;

����
(6)
�
The record and previous history of the
minor, including previous contacts with the family court, other law enforcement
agencies, courts in other jurisdictions, prior periods of probation to the
family court, or prior commitments to juvenile institutions;

����
(7)
�
The prospects for adequate protection
of the public and the likelihood of reasonable rehabilitation of the minor (if
the minor is found to have committed the alleged offense) by the use of
procedures, services, and facilities currently available to the family court; [
and
]

����
(8)
�
The minor's exposure to adverse
childhood experiences, childhood trauma, involvement in the child welfare or
foster care systems, and status as a victim of human trafficking, sexual abuse,
or rape;

����
(9)
�
Whether the minor has any
diagnosable mental, emotional, or physical disability that would best be
treated through the family court; and

���
[
(8)
]

(10)
All other relevant matters.

����
(d)
�
The court may waive jurisdiction and order a
minor or adult held for criminal proceedings if, after a full investigation and
hearing, the court finds that:

����
(1)
�
The person during the person's minority
is alleged to have committed an act that would constitute murder in the first
degree or second degree or attempted murder in the first degree or second
degree if committed by an adult; and

����
(2)
�
There is no evidence the person is
committable to an institution for individuals with intellectual disabilities or
the mentally ill.

����
[
(e)
�
Transfer of a minor for criminal proceedings
terminates the jurisdiction of the court over the minor with respect to any
subsequent acts that would otherwise be within the court's jurisdiction under
section 571-11(1) and thereby confers jurisdiction over the minor to a court of
competent criminal jurisdiction.

����
(f)
]

(e)
�
If criminal proceedings
instituted under subsection (a), (b), or (d) result in an acquittal or other
discharge of the minor involved, no petition shall be filed thereafter in any
family court based on the same facts as were alleged in the criminal
proceeding.

����
[
(g)
]

(f)
�
A minor shall not be subject
to criminal prosecution based on the facts giving rise to a petition filed
under this chapter, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

����
[
(h)
]

(g)
�
Where the petition has been
filed in a circuit other than the minor's residence, the judge, in the judge's
discretion, may transfer the case to the family court of the circuit of the
minor's residence.

����
[
(i)
]

(h)
�
When a petition is filed
bringing a minor before the court under section 571-11(1) and (2), and the
minor resides outside of the circuit, but within the State, the court, after a
finding as to the allegations in the petition, may certify the case for
disposition to the family court having jurisdiction where the minor
resides.
�
Thereupon, the court shall
accept the case and may dispose of the case as if the petition was originally
filed in that court.
�
Whenever a case is
so certified, the certifying court shall forward to the receiving court
certified copies of all pertinent legal and social records.

����
[
(j)
]

(i)
�
If the court waives
jurisdiction pursuant to subsection (b) or (d), the court also may waive its
jurisdiction with respect to any other felony charges arising from the same
episode to the charge for which the minor was waived.

����
(j)
�

If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the minor was
trafficked, sexually abused, or raped by the alleged victim in the case before
or during the commission of the alleged offense, the court shall retain
jurisdiction and not waive jurisdiction and order the minor held for criminal
proceedings.
"

����
SECTION 3.
�

This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that
were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

����
SECTION 4.
�

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

����
SECTION 5.
�

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Family
Court; Jurisdiction; Criminal Offenses; Minor Defendants; Abuse; Trauma

Description:

Amends the factors a family court is required to consider
in deciding whether the court may waive jurisdiction over a minor or adult held
for criminal proceedings.
�
Preserves the
family court's jurisdiction over a minor transferred for criminal proceedings
for subsequent acts that would otherwise be within the family court's
jurisdiction.
�
Requires the court to
retain jurisdiction over a minor if the court finds by clear and convincing
evidence that the minor was trafficked, sexually abused, or raped by the
alleged victim in the case before or during the commission of the alleged
offense.

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