HB 2254

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
2254
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
H.D. 1
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 [[fine]] payment
shall be [[collected]] applied to a fee or fine until the
restitution or reparation order has been [[satisfied.]] paid in full."
���� 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 in district court 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]]:
���� (a)� If the
defendant was ordered to pay restitution, the court shall set a proof of
compliance hearing for the defendant; provided that the court may further order
that the defendant need not appear for the proof of compliance hearing if all
restitution has been paid in full before a designated date that may be earlier
than the proof of compliance hearing date.�
At each proof of compliance hearing for the defendant, if the defendant
appears and is in compliance with the court-ordered payments but has not yet paid
all restitution in full, the court shall order a further proof of compliance
hearing within one year or as soon as practicable until the restitution has
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.� Regardless of whether the court finds that
defendant's default was contumacious, 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 with the court-ordered
payments.� Once satisfied, the
court shall resume ordering a further proof of compliance hearing within one
year or as soon as practicable until the restitution has been paid in full; or
���� (b)� If
the defendant was ordered to pay fees, fines, or both, the court may set a
proof of compliance hearing for the defendant; provided that the court may
further order that the defendant need not appear for the proof of compliance
hearing if all fees and fines have been paid in full before a designated date
that may be earlier than the proof of compliance hearing date.� If a proof of compliance hearing is set and
the defendant defaults in the payment of fees or fines, the court may:
��������� (i)� Refer
the outstanding fees, fines, or both to the collection agency or licensed
attorney contracted pursuant to section 601-17.5; or
�������� (ii)� Require the defendant to show cause
why the defendant's default should not be treated as contumacious, and, if the
defendant fails to appear, the court may 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 may find that the defendant's default was contumacious
and may order the defendant committed until the fee, fine, or a specified part
thereof is paid.
���� (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]]
that their failure was not attributable to an intentional refusal to obey
the order of the court, or to a failure to make a good faith effort to obtain
the funds required for the payment.� If
the corporation or unincorporated association was sentenced as a defendant in
district court, the proceedings shall be as provided 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, or
restitution, thirty days if the fee [[or]], fine, or
restitution 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]] paid in full and 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]] and the State may collect the
fee or fine, [[including]] in addition to any 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,]] a fee, fine, or restitution for
purposes of this section, and no person shall be imprisoned under this
section in default of payment of attorney's fees, costs, [[and]] or
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, a
court officer, a 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[[:]] is:
������������� (i)� [[Is providing]] Providing
supervision of a defendant or offender convicted and sentenced by the courts of
Hawaii; or
������������ (ii)� [[Is responsible]] 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[[:]] is engaged in the:
������������� (i)� [[Is engaged in the supervision]] Supervision
of a defendant or offender convicted and sentenced in the courts of Hawaii; or
������������ (ii)� [[Is engaged in the preparation]] 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]] release of 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]] the 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]] that
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 on July 1,
3000.
Report Title:
Penal
Code; Fees, Fines, and Restitution; Collections; Consequences of Non-Payment
Description:
Requires
the Judiciary to contract with a collection agency or licensed attorney to
collect delinquent court-ordered fees, fines, sanctions, and court costs.� Clarifies the collection and prioritization
of court-ordered fees, fines, and restitution.�
Establishes procedures for proof of compliance hearings and consequences
for nonpayment.� Effective 7/1/3000.� (HD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.