Certain high-profile contested case appeals, such as the one that set back the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope, could come to a speedier conclusion under a bill nearing its final vote.
Certain high-profile contested case appeals, such as the one that set back the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope, could come to a speedier conclusion under a bill nearing its final vote.
House Bill 1581 would allow challenges to decisions considered to have significant statewide importance to go directly to the state Supreme Court, thereby bypassing lower courts. An amended version made it through a conference committee Thursday and is now set for final votes in the House and Senate.
In a press release, House Majority Leader Scott Saiki said the bill would reduce the amount of time it takes for important cases to be resolved. It also would allow the court to appoint someone to oversee cases remanded back to government agencies.
“This bill will hopefully pressure state departments and boards to make sure contested case hearings are conducted properly because they will know they could be appealed directly to the Supreme Court,” Saiki said.
Contested case hearings are quasi-judicial hearings addressing an administrative action that might impact someone’s legal rights. Decisions can be appealed through the courts.
The legislation follows TMT’s loss of its conservation district use permit after the state’s high court ruled in December that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources wrongfully voted to approve the permit prior to the outcome of the permit’s contested case hearing. The judges said that violated the petitioners’ right to due process.
A lower court earlier upheld the hearings officer’s decision to grant the permit.
While TMT opponents were successful on their appeal to the high court, petitioner Kealoha Pisciotta said the Legislature should not force any judicial steps to be skipped.
“They are meant to go slower than we like,” she said of the courts. “That makes them deliberative.”
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources selected retired Hilo Circuit Court Judge Riki May Amano to oversee a new contested case hearing for the TMT project that is proposed for Mauna Kea. Her selection is being challenged.
The measure says it would take effect Aug. 1 and be repealed July 1, 2019, without additional action from lawmakers.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.