Bill Text: HI HB1381 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Indigent Legal Services
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Carried over to 2012 Regular Session. [HB1381 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2012-HB1381-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1381 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to A surcharge for indigent services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the 2007 study, Assessment of Civil Legal Needs and Barriers of Low- and Moderate-Income People of Hawaii, determined that four out of five low- and moderate-income residents did not have their legal needs met and that legal service providers are only able to assist one in three who contact them for assistance.
The legislature also finds that more funding is necessary to increase the delivery of legal services. Additional funds could be generated by increasing the surcharge for indigent legal services, as recommended by the Access to Justice Hui in its Community Wide Action Plan: Ten Steps to Increase Access to Justice in Hawaii by 2010.
SECTION 2. Section 607-5.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) as follows:
"(a) In addition to the costs and fees
prescribed in section 607-5, any person in a civil action in the circuit court
who is required to pay an initial filing fee shall pay an additional surcharge
of [$25] $65 at the time of the person's initial filing. Initial
filings for which this surcharge shall be assessed include[;]:
(1) Complaints, petitions, interventions, applications for special proceedings, and answers containing one or more cross-claims or counter-claims; and
(2) [Third party] Third-party
complaints, but shall not include post-judgment civil process.
(b) In addition to the costs and fees
prescribed in section 607-4, any person [who
files an action for summary possession in the district court] in a civil
action in the district court who is required to pay an initial filing fee shall
pay an additional surcharge of [$10] $35 at the time of the
person's initial filing. Any person in a civil action in the [supreme court] courts of appeal who
is required to pay an initial filing fee [also] shall also pay an
additional surcharge of [$25] $65 at the time of the person's
filing. No surcharge shall be assessed against:
(1) Small claims cases;
(2) Petitions for temporary restraining orders;
(3) Petitions for protective orders;
(4) Any party who has received the court's permission to proceed in forma pauperis; or
(5) Any party proceeding on behalf of the county or State.
Surcharges subject to this section shall be limited to one payment per party."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2011.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Indigent Legal Services
Description:
Increases the surcharge on court filing fees used to fund indigent legal services.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
