The service of subpoenas on and court appearances made by
departmental personnel shall be in accordance with the guidelines
set forth by this directive.
Overview
Each element commander shall establish procedures to ensure
that:
A. Subpoenas are properly served on departmental personnel
under his or her command;
B. The prosecuting attorney is properly notified when, for
reasons beyond the individual’s control, an employee is
unable to attend court at the time for which he or she
has been subpoenaed; and
C. Immediate notification is provided when an employee
determines that he or she will be unable to appear in
court at the time for which the employee has been
subpoenaed (e.g . , due to unexpected absence from Oahu,
disabling injury, or prolonged i l lness).
SUBPOENAS DIRECTED AT DEPARTMENTAL PERSONNEL
A. A subpoena may be served on a departmental employee by
an of f icer or by any civilian who is not a defendant
and is 18 or more years of age.
1. Departmental employees shall accept and comply
with all valid subpoenas, criminal and civil,
served on them.
Policy Number 7.12
Page 2
Most subpoenas are issued by the clerk of the
court under the seal of the court. Each one
will state the name of the court and the
title, if any, of the proceeding. It will
command the person named therein to attend
and give testimony at the time and place
specified in the subpoena.
Specific instructions for handling subpoenas
duces tecum are found in Policy 5.02,
NOTIFICATION OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDING/ CIVIL
ACTION AND TRANSMITTAL OF LEGAL PAPERS.
2 . Civilians who wish to personally serve subpoenas
to on-duty personnel shall not be allowed to
compromise departmental security by entering areas
in which only employees are permitted.
B. In general, the Warrants Unit, Records and
Identification Division, is responsible for
distributing subpoenas to the appropriate elements.
1. The Warrants Unit shall distribute each subpoena
in accordance with the official element assignment
listed in the current alphabetical listing issued
by the Human Resources Division. When an employee
has been transferred or temporarily assigned
elsewhere, the employee ‘ s supervisor shall forward
the subpoena to the element to which the employee
has been reassigned.
2. EXCEPTION: When a “rush” subpoena (one with a
court date of three days or less from the date of
receipt) names an employee who is officially
assigned to a patrol command, the Warrants Unit
shall contact the district to determine the status
of the employee. The Warrants Unit shall then
forward the subpoena to the proper element for
service. The Department of the Prosecuting
Attorney may also fax a subpoena that requires
immediate action to the employee’s supervisor.
3. The employee’s supervisor is responsible for
serving the subpoena on the employee without
delay, regardless of the employee’s employment
status or planned activities. In the event that
the employee being subpoenaed is not on duty, the
supervisor shall attempt to have the subpoena
served at the employee’s home.
4. The original/facsimile copy of each Circuit,
District, or Fami l y Court subpoena served on a
departmental employee shall be signed by the
serving officer and endorsed on the front by the
employee served.
5. When a subpoena cannot be served, the reason for
nonservice and the approximate date of the
employee’s return to duty shall be recorded on the
Justification of Non-Service, HPD-222A form, which
shall be completed by the employee’s supervisor.
The employee’s supervisor shall notify the
Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of his or
her inability to serve a subpoena. To ensure
timely notification, the Department of the
Prosecuting Attorney shall be notified as follows:
a. Under normal circumstances: at least five
working days prior to the scheduled trial
date or
b. For a rush subpoena: as soon as it is
determined that the subpoena cannot be
served.
C. When returning a served or unserved State of Hawaii
subpoena, the following procedures shall be followed:
1. The subpoena shall be
mail) directly to the
Prosecuting Attorney.
be accompanied by the
routed (by interdepartmental
Department of the
An unserved subpoena shall
HPD-222A form.
2. EXCEPTION: All neighbor island, judiciary,
administrative driver’s license revocation, and
public defender’s subpoenas shall be sent to the
Warrants Unit. The Warrants Unit wil l return them
to the appropriate agencies.
D. Subpoenas from military courts shall be served on
departmental personnel directly through their elements.
Unserved subpoenas from military courts shall be
returned by elements directly to the military courts.
PROCEDURE FOR LOGGING SUBPOENAS FOR DEPARTMENTAL PERSONNEL
Element commanders shall ensure that subpoenas are properly entered into the electronic subpoena log on the Honolulu
Police Department (HPD) intranet. No manual log books other than the electronic subpoena log shall be used in its place.
A. The name of the employee along with other listed information shall be entered into the electronic subpoena log.
B. Once the subpoena has been served, the record on the subpoena log shall be updated to reflect that service was made.
C. The signed subpoena shall be scanned and attached to the respective record as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
Multiple subpoenas may be scanned and saved as one PDF file, not to exceed ten scanned subpoenas per PDF file. If the PDF file containing multiple subpoenas is made, this file shall be attached to each of the respective officers’ subpoena log entries.
D. Transmitting a signed or rush subpoena shall be in
accordance with section II above of this policy.
PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO ALL COURT APPEARANCES
A. An employee who wishes to review a case for which he or she has been subpoenaed may peruse the original reports on file in the Records and Identification Division. Copies of the reports are also available through the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.
B. Officers shall remain in close proximity to the
courtroom so as to be immediately available for trial or for any questions from the prosecutor. It shall be the responsibility of the officer to provide contact information to the prosecutor should he or she need to leave the area.
C. Officers shall be dismissed by the prosecutor,
bailiff, or court sergeant or designee.
D. Officers shall appear in court in their standard
police uniform as specified in Policy 2.38, UNIFORMS, EQUIPMENT, AND FIREARMS, or as noted below:
1. Male Plainclothes Officers
Male employees shall wear coats and ties with
dress slacks and dress shoes with socks in a
combination that is conservative in nature and
has a professional appearance.
2. Female Plainclothes Officers
Female employees shall wear dresses, suits, or
blouses and dress slacks/skirts with dress shoes
in a combination that is conservative in nature
and has a professional appearance. Muumuus are
not acceptable.
E. Uniformed officers attending court in the course of
their normal scheduled work shift shall appear in
their standard police uniform or standard uniform for
solo motorcycle officers as specified in
Policy 2.38, UNIFORMS, EQUIPMENT, AND FIREARMS, except
in the cases listed below:
1. A uniformed officer who is on call for court may
appear in the utility uniform when it has been
authorized by his or her commander because of
inclement weather.
2. The uniform shall not be worn when an officer is appearing as a defendant.
3. The uniform shall not be worn when an officer is present at a court proceeding in which a· second officer is a defendant and the first officer has not been subpoenaed to appear as a witness.
4. When officers are not acting in their official
capacities but representing personal interests
(e.g., character witness testimony) in court,
they shall not wear any departmental-Hniform or
present themselves as departmental
representatives without prior written approval
from the Chief of Police.
5. A uniformed officer who is attending court during hours that are not part of his or her normal scheduled work shift may wear plainclothes attire as provided by this directive.
F. Civilian personnel shall appear in court in attire
that is consistent with Policy 3.22, DRESS AND
GROOMING STANDARDS.
No firearm shall be worn in the courtroom.
Exception: On-duty officers responding to a call for assistance by the court.
H. Claiming of Mileage and Witness Fees
1. Employees attending any court or administrative proceeding in their official capacity, on behalf of the department, are not entitled to claim witness fees.
2. Employees utilizing city-owned vehicles to attend court are not entitled to claim mileage fees.
3. Mileage incurred by officers utilizing
city-subsidized vehicles to attend court is
considered on-duty mileage. As such, they are
not entitled to claim mileage fees.
4. Employees claiming mileage fees shall complete any required voucher or form provided by the paying agency. If none is provided, they shall include the following information on their
subpoena prior to requesting for payment:
a. Address or district from where the employee
reported to court;
b. Address or district to which the employee
will be directly reporting to after court;
c. Duty status and work schedule of the
employee;
d. Whether the employee is utilizing a
subsidized, nonsubsidized, or city-owned
vehicle;
e. Whether the employee must pick up and/or
return any evidence that was subpoenaed for
court;
f. Signature and employee identification number
of the employee claiming court mileage fees;
and
g. Signature and employee identification number
of the court sergeant/officer.
5. The court sergeant/officer shall ensure that
employees who claim mileage fees for court
attendance include all required information and
sign the back of the subpoena. Refer to the
attachment.
6. The court sergeant/officer shall submit all
processed copies of mileage fee claims provided
by the court to the appropriate commands.
PROCEDURES FOR COURT
The court sergeant/officer handles administrative matters associated with the appearance of departmental personnel at court .
A. Reporting to Court
1. Officers who are subpoenaed to court, whether on or off duty, shall report to the court
sergeant/officer when they arrive.
2. Officers shall sign and complete the court
attendance log, including their arrival and
departure times.
3. Immediately after signing the court attendance
log and meeting with the court sergeant/officer,
officers shall report to the prosecuting attorney
in charge of the case. Officers should allow
sufficient time to confer with the prosecutor
before the case is heard.
4. Officers who request to be on standby while on
duty shall notify their supervisor, who in turn
shall notify and seek approval from the court
sergeant/officer. If approved, the officer shall
abide by the given instructions.
B. Overtime Cards
1. Officers shall submit their overtime cards to the
court sergeant/officer for time-stamping at the
beginning and end of the overtime period.
2. The court sergeant/officer shall ensure that
officers complete their overtime cards properly
and shall sign each card.
3. The court sergeant/officer shall submit all
overtime cards to the appropriate commands.
C. Reporting Absences and Late Arrivals
1. When an officer will be absent from court or late in arriving at court, the officer shall notify
his or her command. In turn, the command shall
notify the court sergeant/officer.
2. Whenever possible, notification to the court
sergeant/officer shall be made at least 30
minutes before the officer’s scheduled court
time.
3. When notified of an absence or a late arrival,
the court sergeant/officer shall notify the court
bailiff and/or prosecuting attorney. Each
notification shall be logged in the daily
discrepancy log.
D. Failure to Report to Court Without Proper Notification
1.The court sergeant/officer shall input
“No-Call/No-Show” in the court attendance log on the HPD intranet page for an officer who failed
to make proper notification of their absence.
2. The court sergeant/officer shall initiate a
memorandum to the Professional Standards Officer via their command.
NOTIFICATION SYSTEM FOR COURT APPEARANCE
Annual vacation schedules shall be submitted by the elements
listed below to the I nformat i on Technology Division for
consolidation and transmittal to the Department of the
Prosecuting Attorney (see Policy 3.07, ANNUAL VACATIONS)
A. Central Receiving Division;
B. Communications Division;
C. Community Affairs Division;
D. Criminal Investigation Division;
E . Districts 1 through 8;
F. Narcotics/Vice Division;
G. Records and Identification Division;
H. Scientific Investigation Section;
I. Specialized Services Division;
J. Traffic Division; and
K. Training Division.
Each employee shall apprise his or her element commander of
any anticipated change in personal status that may interfere
with a court appearance so that the commander can ensure
that the proper notifications are made.
COURT OFFICER
All scheduled leaves and suspensions shall be reported to
the court officer in each district patrol command. On the
basis of these schedules, the court officer will make the
proper referrals of personnel to the district courts and to
the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.