SB2108 revises Hawaii’s family court waiver-of-jurisdiction law for minors accused of serious crimes. The bill changes the factors a family court must weigh when deciding whether to transfer a youth to adult criminal court, adding explicit consideration of adverse childhood experiences, trauma, foster care or child welfare involvement, and whether the minor has been a victim of human trafficking, sexual abuse, or rape. It also revises the existing factor about adult co-defendants to focus on undue influence or peer pressure on the minor.
The bill further creates a mandatory retention provision: if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the alleged victim trafficked, sexually abused, or raped the minor before or during the offense, the family court must keep jurisdiction and may not waive the case to adult court. In addition, the measure preserves family court jurisdiction over a minor transferred for criminal proceedings for later acts that would otherwise fall within family court jurisdiction, and it keeps the existing rules allowing waiver in certain felony, serious bodily injury, class A felony, repeat-offense, and murder cases.
Impact
SB2108 amends Section 571-22 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes governing waiver of family court jurisdiction and transfer of minors to criminal court. It adds new statutory factors that courts must consider, expands the trauma-related information relevant to waiver decisions, and limits waiver where the minor was victimized by the alleged victim in the case. The bill also removes and replaces language related to the effect of transfer on later juvenile jurisdiction, while leaving intact the broader framework for waiver and post-waiver criminal proceedings.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have had broadly favorable support throughout the legislative process. It passed Senate Health and Human Services, Senate Judiciary, and both conference committees unanimously or near-unanimously, and there is no recorded opposition in the provided vote history. The findings section and the final report title indicate a policy focus on trauma-informed juvenile justice and protecting vulnerable minors from adult court transfer.
Contention
The main policy tension in SB2108 is between public-safety-based waiver of serious juvenile offenses and a more trauma-informed approach that accounts for abuse, trafficking, foster care involvement, and mental or emotional disability. Supporters appear to favor keeping certain minors in family court when their conduct is tied to victimization or developmental trauma, while the retained waiver provisions preserve adult-court transfer for the most serious offenses and repeat conduct. The bill also narrows the relevance of adult co-defendants by emphasizing undue influence and peer pressure, which may be a point of debate in cases involving group offenses.