Hawaii Court Information, Structure and Jurisdiction

If you analyze the court systems in the United States, one feature that is immediately apparent is their organized structure and the many duties that they handle. The courts of Hawaii are no exception to this.

Here are the different state courts in Hawaii:

•    The Supreme Court
•    The Intermediate Appellate Court
•    The Circuit Courts (present in 4 circuits)
•    The Family Courts (present in 4 circuits)
•    The District Courts
•    The court of State Land
•    The Tax Court

Court and Legal Information for Hawaii

You can visit

http://www.courts.state.hi.us

for all the information you need about the different courts in Hawaii. This is the official website for the Hawaii courthouses, and has information on the different types of courts as well as their jurisdictions.

You may also visit the website of the Bar Association site at

http://www.hsba.org

for information regarding attorneys and rules of the court. Or if you prefer, you could call up the courthouse or approach the clerk’s office to get the information desired.

Supreme Court Contact

The judicial Structure in the State of Hawaii is headed by the Supreme Court. It is located at 417 South King Street (Honolulu, Hawaii). You can also get in touch with the personnel at the Supreme court by phone at (808) 539-4977.

Online Court Access

Here are the websites of the particular courts in the state:

The Supreme Court –

www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/Courts/Supreme/72D2460755E8199BEBD3ACE8C3.html

The Appellate Court –

www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/Courts/Appeals/4942E2685D7AF75AEBD824637http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/E.html

Circuit Courts –

www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/Courts/Circuit/7E44E6F3983DFB45EBD8325F2http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/C.html

Family Courts –

www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/Courts/Family/153E4A87ED63B9F8EBD8E1142http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/F.html

District Courts –

www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/Courts/District/3E74279C1AFABC4DEBD911104http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/B.html

Judges and Jurisdictions

In the Supreme Court, there are 5 justices who are elected for 10 years terms, and they all must retire when they become 70 years of age. The appellate court has 6 judges and any 3 of them are selected to sit in a panel. The governor of the state nominates all judges.

Circuit courts in Hawaii have the jurisdiction to hear and pass judgments on criminal and civil cases. Collectively, these courts make up the biggest judicial body in the state.

The Family courts are allowed to hear cases concerning juvenile delinquency, adoption, parental rights and its termination, legal minors, neglect and abuse, status offenses, guardianship termination issues and others like this. These courts also have jurisdiction to hear issues of divorce, alimony, custody rights, child support and domestic violence.

District courts handle issues of traffic infractions, issues between tenants and landlords related to evictions, civil trial cases where there is no jury and the amount of relief is less than $10,000, and other cases of small claims where the amount is less than $3,500.

Finally, the Land Courts in the state handle all cases of land titles.