HB 398 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO COMPENSATION FOR COURT-APPOINTED REPRESENTATION.

Summary

Increases the rate of compensation and maximum allowable amounts per case for court-appointed counsel and guardians ad litem in family court proceedings. (CD1)

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

Jun 2025

Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Signed Jun 26, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB398_SD1 → HB398_SD2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill increases compensation rates and maximum fees for court-appointed attorneys and guardians ad litem in Hawaii family court cases. The changes affect how much money the state pays to these legal representatives for their services in child and family law proceedings.

Scope change

The bill applies to the same types of cases as before (chapters 346, 560, 571, 580, 584, and 587A), but modifies the payment amounts and hourly rates.

FISCAL

Increased hourly compensation rate for attorneys from $150 to $150 (no change) and for non-attorneys from $122 to $122 (no change), but reorganized the fee structure with new subcategories for out-of-court services.

Increased maximum case fees from $5,500 to $5,500 (no change) and from $2,000 to $2,000 (no change), but updated the bracketed amounts to show previous lower values of $3,000 and $1,000.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the act from 'upon approval' to 'July 1, 2050', which appears to be a clerical error or placeholder date.

TECHNICAL

Reorganized the bill structure with new metadata fields including author names, timestamps, and document tracking numbers.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick excused (2).

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none).

upper

Apr 24, 2025

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 04-30-25

upper

Apr 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 60).

upper

Apr 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 60) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

Apr 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Moriwaki, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Kitagawa, Belatti, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Wednesday 04-23-25 2:15PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Tuesday 04-22-25 2:05PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Monday 04-21-25 2:05PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 16, 2025

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Thursday, 04-17-25 3:46PM in conference room 325.

lower

Apr 4, 2025

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 541) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 23; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 2 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Mar 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 11 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C., Fevella.

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-28-25 10:02AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 19, 2025

Committee

Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1140) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 03-13-25 9:45AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to JDC, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 227).

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Pierick, Ward excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 13 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Kusch, Reyes Oda, Ward.

lower

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 289) 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