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HRS §571-84.6

When a minor's court records and hearings are public

This section says when a minor's court records and hearings are open to the public. It applies to older minors charged with serious crimes. A judge can keep them private only for strong, written reasons.

childrencourts

The statute, as written — Minor law violators; proceedings and records not confidential

(a) As used in this section: "Legal record" means petitions, complaints, motions, and other papers filed in any case; transcripts of testimony taken by the court; and findings, judgments, orders, decrees, and other papers and adjudication data, other than social records, filed in proceedings before the court. "Social record" means those social and clinical studies, reports, or examinations prepared in any case pursuant to this chapter. (b) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, in any proceeding in which a minor age fourteen years of age or older has been adjudicated by the court under section 571-11(1) for an act that if committed by an adult would: (1) Be murder in the first degree or second degree or attempted murder in the first degree; (2) Result in serious bodily injury to or death of a victim; (3) Be a class A felony; or (4) Be a felony and the minor has more than one prior adjudication for acts that would constitute felonies if committed by an adult, all legal records related to the above stated proceeding shall be open for public inspection, unless the administrative judge of the family court or the judge's designee finds in writing that there are significant and compelling circumstances peculiar to the case of such a nature that public inspection would be inconsistent with or defeat the express purpose of this section. All social records shall be kept confidential except as provided in section 571-84. (c) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, in any case in which a minor age sixteen years of age or older comes within section 571-11(1) is taken into custody for an act that if committed by an adult would: (1) Be murder in the first degree or second degree or attempted murder in the first degree; (2) Result in serious bodily injury to or death of a victim; (3) Be a class A felony and the minor has one or more prior adjudications for an act that would constitute a felony if committed by an adult; or (4) Be a class B or C felony and the minor has more than one prior adjudication for acts that would constitute felonies if committed by an adult, all legal proceedings related to the above stated case shall be open to the public unless the administrative judge of the family court or the judge's designee finds in writing that there are significant and compelling circumstances peculiar to the case of such a nature that an open proceeding would be inconsistent with or defeat the express purpose of this section.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

Sections this one refers to

§571-11 Family court authority over children

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.