HB 397 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE EXAMINATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS.

Summary

Establishes the amount of compensation for private-sector examiners who evaluate a criminal defendant's penal responsibility or fitness to proceed in a legal case. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

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What changed between versions

HB397 → HB397_HD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to remove specific funding amounts, leaving the appropriation blank for legislative approval. Additionally, the effective date was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 3000, which drastically delays when the law regarding private examiner compensation will take effect.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on private examiner compensation, but the timeline for implementation has been extended by over 700 years.

FISCAL

Specific dollar amounts for the fiscal year 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 appropriation were removed and replaced with blank lines, requiring new amounts to be specified.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 3000, significantly delaying the implementation of the new compensation standards.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 288) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, Hashem.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors