HB 166 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE DEFENSE OF STATE EMPLOYEES.

Summary

Requires the State to defend professionally licensed or certified state employees from civil actions or proceedings, under certain circumstances. Clarifies that the employee may employ their own attorney at the employee's own expense. Establishes a process for the Attorney General to transfer or withdraw representation if the Attorney General declines to defend the employee. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

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What changed between versions

HB166 → HB166_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated to reflect its first House District (HD1) version, changing the effective date from immediate approval to July 1, 3000, and adjusting the withdrawal notice period to 'no less than thirty days'. These changes clarify the timeline for when the law applies and refine the procedural requirements for the Attorney General when withdrawing legal representation.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on requiring the State to defend professionally licensed or certified state employees, but the effective date is now set to a future year (3000) rather than upon approval.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from 'upon approval' to 'July 1, 3000', significantly delaying when the law takes effect.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for the Attorney General to file a motion to withdraw as counsel was adjusted to 'no less than thirty days' instead of 'not less than thirty days'.

TECHNICAL

The header information was updated to reflect the bill version as 'HB166 HD1' and included new metadata fields.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 597) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 14, 2025

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors