STAND. COM. REP. NO. 535

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 214

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 214 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SMALL CLAIMS DIVISION OF THE DISTRICT COURT,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Establish exclusive jurisdiction of the Small Claims Division of the District Court over cases in which the amount claimed is $1,000 or less; and

 

     (2)  Expand the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Division over personal property cases to include the return of any personal property worth $5,000 or less.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that existing law allows plaintiffs to file their claims in the Small Claims Division or Regular Claims Division of the District Court.  This measure will allow plaintiffs to file in the Small Claims Division when the amount in controversy is $1,000 or less, which is more efficient and less costly for the plaintiff.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Making conforming amendments to section 633-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to reflect the amendments made to section 633-27, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 214, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 214, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

 

 

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair