COM 0842.002 2008-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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On December 19, 2008 Chief Justice Ronald Moon appointed Melvin H. Fujino as a full time District Judge for the South Kohala District Court. The addition of a full time District Judge and staff and the potential for additional per diem District Court judges raises the potential for even more Court calendars to cover. The current North Hawaii Prosecutors Office is barely adequate for the current caseload in the area and inadequate for any future expansion. There are no adequate County facilities that can be used. The construction of a County facility in the South Kohala Civic Center is at least a decade away if not longer. Currently we have one attorney and one secretary assigned to the North Hawaii Office. We also have attorneys from the Hilo and Kona offices covering the North Hawaii Courts as necessary. We have one victim /witness counselor from Hilo covering cases in the North Hawaii area with backup from the Kona Office as necessary. Administratively, we have our Kona Office Supervising Attorney managing the North Hawaii Office because the Hawaii Police Department specialized units, such as the Criminal Investigation Section, covers the South and North Kohala districts. The current office consists of a small lobby, clerical area, a pass through office with partial walls and a small rear interview /storage /break area. The staff uses the public restrooms. Staff from the Hilo /Kona offices will use the rear multiple purpose space or whatever space is available for legal work, interviewing victims and witness and other office business. The office walls do not go all the way to the ceiling because there is no central air - conditioning. This creates privacy issues and difficulty for victims in talking about their victimization. The original planning for the North Hawaii Office started with the Kim administration and was originally planned for the Parker Ranch Center. Since then we have downsized our request and hope to take advantage of the space available and favorable rental rates. The proposed new space will improve the services for law enforcement in the North Hawaii area and is consistent with the growth patterns for the area. This move will also vastly improve the services to victims and I recommend that this resolution be approved. Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer