(a) The president or speaker or other presiding officer of either house of the legislature may issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum requiring the production of books, documents, or other evidence, in any matter pending before either house, or committee, as the case may be.

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 21-8

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
  • Hearing: means any meeting in the course of an investigatory proceeding, other than a preliminary conference or interview at which no testimony is taken under oath, conducted by an investigating committee for the purpose of taking testimony or receiving other evidence. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 21-2
  • Investigating committee: means any of the following which are authorized to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the production of books, records, papers, and documents for the purpose of securing information on a specific subject for the use of the legislature:

    (1) A standing or special or select committee or committee of the whole of either house of the legislature;
    (2) A joint committee of both houses;
    (3) An authorized subcommittee of a legislative committee; and
    (4) Any body created by law, the members of which may include nonlegislators. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 21-2
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(b) Every investigating committee, when authorized by either house or both houses, as the case may be, may issue, by majority vote of all its members, subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum requiring the production of books, documents, or other evidence, in any matter pending before the committee.
(c) A person subpoenaed to attend a hearing of an investigating committee shall receive the same fees and allowances as a person legally required to attend upon a circuit court or a grand jury in any criminal case pursuant to section 621-7.
(d) Any subpoena, warrant of arrest or other process issued under the authority of any house or of both houses of the legislature shall run in the name of the State of Hawaii and shall be addressed to any or all of the following officers: the sergeant-at-arms of either house of the legislature; the sergeant-at-arms of both houses of the legislature, in the case of a subpoena issued in behalf of a joint committee of both houses; the sheriff or the sheriff’s deputies; the chief of police of any county or the chief’s deputies; any police officer of the State or any county. The subpoena, warrant or other process shall be signed by the officer authorized to issue it, shall set forth the officer’s official title, shall contain a reference to the rule, or concurrent, or other resolution, or other means, by which the taking of testimony or other evidence, or the issuance of such warrant or other process, was authorized, and shall, in the case of a summons or subpoena, set forth in general terms the matter or question with reference to which the testimony or other evidence is to be taken.
(e) Any officer to whom such process is directed, if within the officer’s territorial jurisdiction, shall forthwith serve or execute the same upon delivery thereof to the officer, without charge or compensation, except as provided in section 21-8(f).
(f) The house, or both houses of the legislature in the case of a subpoena or process issued by a joint committee, shall compensate or reimburse any officer serving or executing the subpoena or process for the officer’s actual expenses, if any, in connection therewith.

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