Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 604-1 (2026)

Judicial circuits; district judges; sessions

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section HI-LEGcapitol.hawaii.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§604-1 Judicial circuits; district judges; sessions. (a) There shall be established in each of the judicial circuits of the State a district court with the powers and under the conditions herein set forth, which shall be styled as follows:

(1) For the First Judicial Circuit: The District Court of the First Circuit;

(2) For the Second Judicial Circuit: The District Court of the Second Circuit;

(3) For the Third Judicial Circuit: The District Court of the Third Circuit; and

(4) For the Fifth Judicial Circuit: The District Court of the Fifth Circuit.

(b) There shall be appointed one or more district judges for each judicial circuit. The district court of the first circuit shall consist of fifteen judges, who shall be styled as first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth judge, respectively. One of the district judges shall hear landlord-tenant and small claims matters; provided that when in the discretion of the chief justice of the supreme court the urgency or volume of cases so requires, the chief justice may authorize the judge to substitute for or act in addition to or otherwise in place of any other district judge of the district court of the first circuit. The district court of the second circuit shall consist of three judges, who shall be styled as first, second, and third judge, respectively. The district court of the third circuit shall consist of four judges, who shall be styled as first, second, third, and fourth judge, respectively. The district court of the fifth circuit shall consist of two judges who shall be styled as first and second judge, respectively. The chief justice may designate a judge in each circuit as the administrative judge for the circuit.

(c) The district courts shall hold sessions at any place in their respective circuits and as often as the respective district judges deem essential to the promotion of justice. [L 1892, c 57, §8; am L 1892, c 76, §2; am L 1905, c 61, §1; am L 1909, c 38, §1; am L 1915, c 203, §1; am L 1917, c 224, §1; am L 1919, c 108, §1; RL 1925, §2272; RL 1935, §3760; am L 1943, c 10, §1 and c 156, §2; RL 1945, §9671; am L 1945, c 80, §1; am L 1947, c 173, §1; RL 1955, §216-1; am L 1959, c 6, §2; HRS §604-1; am L 1970, c 188, §8; am L 1974, c 114, §1; am L 1976, c 135, §1; am L 1978, c 177, §2; am L 1979, c 16, §3; am L 1982, c 214, §3; gen ch 1985; am L 2025, c 231, §1 and c 232, §1]

Cross References

As to practice of law by district judges, see §601-8.

See Const. art. VI, §1.

Rules of Court

Divisions of a circuit, see DCRCP rule 3(c), (d).

Case Notes

District magistrate entitled to same judicial immunity as judge of court of general jurisdiction. 49 H. 624, 631-632, 425 P.2d 1014 (1967).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1975–2025 · leading case: State v. Kwak, 909 P.2d 1112 (Haw. 1995).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

State v. Kwak, 909 P.2d 1112 (Haw. 1995). · cites it 6× “The prosecution correctly argues that there is but one district court for each judicial circuit, see HRS § 604-1 (1993), 3 and that any district court has jurisdiction over the trial of any offense committed within its circuit.”

Nguyen v. United States, 539 U.S. 69 (2003). · cites it 2× “VI, § 1; Haw. Rev. Stat. § 604-1 (1993); Idaho Const.”

House v. Ane, 538 P.2d 320 (Haw. 1975). · cites it 4× “[7] HRS § 604-1, as it read prior to Act 188, S.”

In the Interest of Doe Child., 93 P.3d 1145 (Haw. 2004). “HRS § 571-8(a) provides that, “[i]n addition to the district courts established under section 604-1, there may be established in each of the judicial circuits of tire Stale a district family court.”

State v. Basnet., 318 P.3d 126 (Haw. 2013). · cites it 2× “HRS § 604-1 provides, in relevant part: There shall be established in each of the judicial circuits of the State a district court with the powers and under the conditions herein set forth, which shall be styled as follows: (1) For the First Judicial Circuit: The District Court…”

Schmidt v. Small Claims Div. of the Dist. Court of the First Circuit, Honolulu Div. (Haw. 2025). · cites it 2× “See Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) § 604-17 (2016); see also HRS § 604-1 (2016). And the legislature did not exclude plaintiffs that file “litigation” in small claims court from the vexatious litigant prefiling requirement under HRS § 634J-7 (2016).”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.