Informing the Legislature that on June 25, 2026, the Governor signed the following bill into law: SB3073 SD1 HD1 CD1 (ACT 150).

This bill, signed into law as Act 150, updates Hawaii's rules for keeping biological evidence after a criminal conviction to address storage challenges caused by overly broad requirements. It limits mandatory retention to serious felony cases where the defendant's identity was genuinely disputed and DNA testing could help identify or exclude the perpetrator. For cases where the identity was not contested or biological material was unlikely, the bill allows law enforcement to dispose of evidence with court approval, even before all appeals are finished. Additionally, the law provides defendants a formal opportunity to object to the disposal of evidence and grants courts the authority to order retention under specific circumstances.