UNITS OF THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
The Office of the Prosecutor maintains offices in Hilo, Kealakekua and Waimea to serve Big Island residents. The Prosecutor's Office is divided into five units: 1) the Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys' Unit; 2) the Investigative Unit; 3) the Victims Assistance Unit; 4) the Administrative Unit; and 5) the Clerical Support Unit.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys' Unit
The Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys' Unit is divided into East, West and North Hawaii teams to handle all criminal cases that occur in their respective districts.
Team Attorneys Districts Covered Cases East Hawaii 24 North & South Hilo, Puna, Ka'u Felonies & Misdemeanors South Kohala, Hamakua Felonies West Hawaii 9 North & South Kona Felonies & Misdemeanors North Kohala Felonies North Hawaii 1 North & South Kohala, Hamakua Misdemeanors The East Hawaii Team includes deputies specially designated for the prosecution of domestic and family violence misdemeanors, cases involving child physical and sexual abuse in Hilo and Puna and cases involving women victims. There are deputies in East and West Hawaii designated for Family Court matters, for coordinating community outreach, to focus on gun violence and on drug trafficking cases.
Major specialized areas and efforts within the Attorneys' Units are:
- Career Criminal Prosecution Program — This state-funded project is designed to get repeat criminal offenders through the system as quickly as possible with the maximum sanctions available. The Career Criminal Program is also charged with handling sex offenders.
- Circuit Court Unit — This unit prosecutes all felony cases within the County of Hawaii for crimes ranging from theft to the most vicious homicides and also handles misdemeanor cases when a jury trial is requested. In addition, the unit is responsible for appeals, writ practice in both federal and state court, evidentiary hearings relating to motions in felony and misdemeanor cases that are set for jury trial, felony sentencing proceedings, probation revocation hearings, parole board hearings, assistance to the Police Department with officer training, review of search warrants and 24-hour pager duty.
- Screening Unit — This East Hawaii unit is responsible for all screening and charging decisions for East Hawaii cases, including both felony and misdemeanor cases, unless cases are victim sensitive. They also analyze cases for plea negotiations and present appropriate cases to the Grand Jury. The benefit to the county is greater uniformity in charging and faster response to the public.
- Forfeitures — Forfeitures are a means of discouraging illegal activity by removing assets derived from or used to engage in criminal activity. The office participates in the State Asset Forfeiture and Federal Forfeiture programs and was involved in dismantling some multi-state drug rings. The office shares in a percentage of the proceeds and received $239,824 in fiscal year 2007-2008.
- District/Family Court Unit — The unit handles all traffic and misdemeanor cases occurring in the seven District Courts. This unit's caseload includes domestic violence as well as the juvenile cases that are scheduled in the Family Courts.
- Investigative Unit — The unit's primary responsibility is to provide trial, pre-trial and post-trial investigative assistance to the deputy prosecutors. This unit also maintains a list of fugitives from Hawaii County on the FBI's National Crime Information Center computer system and also works closely with the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service in returning fugitives nationally or internationally.
- Victim/Witness Assistance Unit — The unit attends to the needs of victims and witnesses as they go through the criminal justice system. Case information, limited crisis counseling, assistance with restitution, crime victim compensation and referrals to other agencies to satisfy victims' needs are some of the many duties assigned to this unit. State and federal grants fund the majority of personnel in this unit, which provided assistance to 3,891 victims and witnesses of crime and their significant others in the second half of the fiscal year.
- Administrative Unit — The unit seeks and administers additional state and federal funding for specialized programs and manages fiscal, personnel, facilities, management information systems and a volunteer program for the largest legal agency in our county. The special projects section assists and coordinates efforts aimed at strengthening Hawaii County's response to juvenile justice and family violence issues.
- Clerical Support Unit — The Clerical Support Unit keeps pace with the word processing and information management needs of the office by extensive use of computer equipment. The clerical support staff is an integral part of successful prosecution. There are 21 clerical staff handling reception, case-tracking, and court-related procedures in the Hilo office and eight in the Kona office.