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HCR 55

Vance Brothers Six Military Veterans Highway

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jeff Campbell and 2 co-sponsors

HCR 55 directs Hawaii Judiciary to form a working group to study TROs, protective orders, and harassment-by-stalking laws and report recommendations by 2027.

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Bill Summary · HCR 55

Summary — HCR 55 (2025)

Concurrent Resolution requesting a Judiciary-led working group and study of temporary restraining orders, protective orders, and harassment-by-stalking laws

Purpose / Intent

HCR 55 asks the Hawaii Judiciary to convene a working group and conduct a study evaluating how effectively existing laws governing domestic violence temporary restraining orders (TROs), protective orders (POs), and harassment-by-stalking statutes are protecting victims and preventing continued abuse. The resolution seeks data-driven findings and recommendations (including proposed legislation, if any) to inform improvements to victim safety, enforcement, and prosecution/adjudication practices.

Key provisions

  • Requests the Judiciary to convene a working group to study the effectiveness of laws on:
    • Issuance and enforcement of temporary restraining orders and protective orders;
    • Judicial and law enforcement responses to violations of TROs and POs;
    • Prosecution and adjudication of harassment-by-stalking cases.
  • Directs the study to incorporate data and feedback from:
    • County law enforcement agencies and prosecuting attorneys;
    • Public Defender (included in final version);
    • Victim services providers, nonprofit victim-advocacy organizations;
    • Legal practitioners (including criminal defense representation) and affected individuals who sought protective orders.
  • Specifies membership for the working group (or entities to be invited), including chiefs of police from each county, each county’s prosecuting attorney, the Public Defender, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Hawaii Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, nonprofit representatives, and victims from each county; and allows the Judiciary to add other relevant participants.
  • Requires the Judiciary to submit a report of findings and recommendations (including any proposed legislation) to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2027.
  • States the working group is to be dissolved on December 31, 2026.
  • Requests certified copies of the resolution be transmitted to listed state officials and agencies (Chief Justice, Administrative Director of the Courts, Attorney General, Public Defender, county prosecutors and chiefs of police, relevant commission and association leaders, and the Coalition).

Who is affected

  • Victims and survivors of domestic violence and stalking (primary beneficiaries of potential reforms)
  • State and county law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, public defenders, and courts
  • Victim service organizations and advocacy groups
  • Policymakers (may receive legislative recommendations)

Timeline & procedural status

  • Introduced: January 30, 2025
  • Amended in committee (HD1, SD1) to expand scope and membership
  • Adopted by Legislature (committee and floor actions April–June 2025); enrolled and transmitted per legislative record
  • Working group dissolution: December 31, 2026
  • Report due: no later than 20 days before the Regular Session of 2027

Potential impact and limitations

  • Intended to produce empirical analysis and stakeholder input that could lead to legislative, administrative, or funding changes to improve victim safety and enforcement effectiveness.
  • As a concurrent resolution, it requests action and study rather than creating binding law or providing funding; any statutory changes or resources would require separate legislation or appropriations.

Sponsors and related measures

  • Sponsors (as listed): Daniel B. Short (primary), Lamosao (primary), Dustin Miller (primary)
  • Related/companion: HR 51

If you would like, I can extract the final working-group membership list in full, produce a timeline of the resolution’s legislative steps, or draft a one-page briefing of likely policy options the study may recommend.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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