What needs to change in Hawaii.

• Clergy expressly named at HRS § 350-1.1(a)(10)

  Paragraph (a)(10) of the mandated-reporter list names 'Members of the clergy or custodians of records therefor.' The same paragraph defines 'penitential communication' and 'member of the clergy' for purposes of the section. This is express statutory inclusion, not the generic 'any person' framing some other states use.

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• Penitential-communication carveout, narrowed by Act 80 in 2023

  The default rule in HRS § 350-1.1(a)(10) is that clergy 'shall not be required to report information gained solely during a penitential communication.' **Act 80 of 2023 (HB350)** added one narrow exception: the carveout does not apply when the clergy member believes there is a substantial risk that abuse 'especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity' may occur in the reasonably foreseeable future. The statute also clarifies that information learned outside a penitential communication is always reportable, even when the same content was also disclosed in confession.

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• HRS § 350-5 overrides four privileges but omits clergy

  Section 350-5 strips physician-patient, psychologist-client, spousal, and victim-counselor privileges in proceedings resulting from a child-abuse report. The clergy-communicant privilege is conspicuously absent from that list. The reporting statute therefore narrows the confessional carveout in one corner, but the courtroom privilege stays intact under **Hawaii Rule of Evidence 506**.

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• Outcome: HB789 (2024) died in committee

  **HB789**, sponsored by Rep. May Mizuno in the 2024 Regular Session, proposed an 'exigent circumstances' exception that would have widened the reporting duty and amended Rule 506 itself so clergy communications about known or suspected child abuse would not be privileged in court. The bill did not advance out of committee.

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• Petty-misdemeanor penalty for knowing failure to report

  HRS § 350-1.2 makes knowing failure to report a petty misdemeanor for anyone covered by the mandated-reporting duty, which includes clergy by virtue of paragraph (a)(10). Maximum exposure is 30 days imprisonment plus fine. There is no separate clergy-specific criminal penalty; clergy face the same exposure as other listed reporters whenever the duty applies, meaning outside the penitential-communication carveout.

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What it takes to close the gap.

How Hawaii got here.

• 2023-06
  Act 80 enacted, narrowing the confessional carveout

  HB350 (Rep. Linda Ichiyama) passes both chambers with near-unanimous support and is signed by Gov. Josh Green as Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023. The new language adds the 'especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity' exception to the penitential-communication carveout in HRS § 350-1.1(a)(10).

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• 2024
  HB789 dies in committee

  Rep. May Mizuno introduces HB789 in the 2024 Regular Session, proposing an exigent-circumstances exception that would have widened the reporting duty and amended HRE Rule 506 so clergy communications about child abuse would not be privileged in court. The bill does not advance out of committee.

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• 2025-2026
  Recent-attempt posture continues

  The 2024 effort is the most recent attempt of record. The recent-attempt urgencyTier reflects that arc, not any current legislation.

Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

• Hawaii State Legislature· current through 2024 session
  HRS § 350-1.1 — Reports (current)

  Canonical state-legislature rendering of the principal mandatory-reporting section. Subsection (a)(10) expressly names clergy as mandated reporters and contains the penitential-communication carveout, including the 2023 narrowing for foreseeable 'especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel' abuse.

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• Justia US Law· 2024 codification
  2024 Hawaii Revised Statutes § 350-1.1 — Reports (full text)

  Full text of HRS § 350-1.1 as amended through the 2023 session. Reproduces the ten-category mandated-reporter list, the penitential-communication carveout, and the Act 80 narrowing. Source note ends '[am L 2023, c 80, §2]'.

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• Justia US Law· 2025
  HRS § 350-5 — Admissibility of evidence

  The privilege-override section. Lists physician-patient, psychologist-client, spousal, and victim-counselor privileges as not grounds for excluding evidence in proceedings resulting from a child-abuse report. The clergy-communicant privilege is not on that list.

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• Justia US Law· 2025
  Hawaii Rules of Evidence Rule 506 — Communications to clergy

  Establishes the evidentiary privilege for confidential communications to clergy acting as spiritual advisors. The rule itself contains no child-abuse-reporting exception, which is why HB789's 2024 attempt to amend Rule 506 was substantive rather than cosmetic.

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• LegiScan· 2024
  HI HB789 — 2024 Regular Session

  Bill history for the 2024 reform attempt sponsored by Rep. May Mizuno. Proposed an exigent-circumstances exception to the penitential-communication carveout and a parallel amendment to HRE Rule 506. Died in committee.

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• LegiScan· 2023-06-14
  HI HB350 — 2023 Regular Session (Act 80)

  Bill history for the 2023 reform sponsored by Rep. Linda Ichiyama. Became Act 80 on June 14, 2023. Source for the narrowing language now codified at HRS § 350-1.1(a)(10).

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• Hawaii Public Radio· 2023-03-09
  House bill requiring clergy to report sacramental confessions of child abuse moves to Senate

  Reports that HB350 passed the House third reading with all members but one (Rep. Diamond Garcia of Oahu) in support, substantiating the near-unanimous characterization in the timeline note.

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