Starting in about three years, tens of thousands of O'ahu residents involved in juvenile court cases, divorces and domestic abuse protective orders will have to travel to Kapolei each year rather than Downtown Honolulu for their Family Court hearings.

The state judiciary plans in early 2010 to open a modern four-story courthouse for O'ahu's Family Court, even if the judiciary doesn't get the additional $15.5 million requested from state lawmakers this year. Currently, the court is squeezed into the second floor of the Circuit Court building on Punchbowl Street.

The Kapolei Court Complex also will include a secure 66-bed juvenile detention facility now at Alder Street in Honolulu.

Officials hope the $125 million Kapolei Court Complex, to be built on 11 acres donated by the Campbell Estate, will help "seed" Oahu's second city and divert growth to the 'Ewa plain.

But some Family Court lawyers oppose shifting the entire Family Court operations to the new complex and want some judges to remain in Honolulu so residents in East Honolulu and surrounding areas can avoid the 25- to 30-minute drive from Downtown to Kapolei.

State judicial officials respond that moving the Family Court as a unit to Kapolei has been a long-standing vision of Chief Justice Ronald Moon because it places Family Court nearer to more of the island's population. In addition, Family Court judges who deal daily with the stress from emotional family court cases want to remain together to support each other, the officials said. The plans currently call for 10 Family Court judges to move from Punchbowl Street to Kapolei.

But Adrienne King, head of the Family Law section of the Hawai'i State Bar Association and one of the most vocal critics of the wholesale move to Kapolei, believes at least several of the Family Court judges should remain to serve East Honolulu and other nearby residents.

"The court exists to serve the people, and not the people to serve the court," she said.

Thomas Keller, judiciary administrative director, said in trying to accommodate the concerns, Moon has acknowledged that at least one courtroom will be available in Honolulu for urgent Family Court matters that would be heard by Family Court judges coming into town from Kapolei. In addition, video conferencing technology will allow attorneys and parties to participate in hearings from Honolulu locations, including the lawyers' offices, Keller said.

SHIFTING 'BURDEN'

He said wherever the courthouse is built, it will be a "burden" for those living farther away. In the past, Leeward Coast, North Shore and Central O'ahu residents had to drive to town for the hearings. Now, the East Honolulu and urban residents will have to drive farther.

"It's always been somebody's burden to go to court wherever it may be located," he said. "That's just the nature of the animal."

Keller said they are not ignoring the Family Court attorneys and discussions will continue to try to reach a solution, but he said the vision is for the Family Court judges to remain together.

"Frankly, I just think a lot of attorneys just don't want to travel to Kapolei," he said.

The Family Court has jurisdiction over thousands of cases each year, many involving minors. They also include adoptions and guardianships. Judiciary officials predict thousands of people will go to Family Court each week.

The Kapolei Court Complex will feature 13 courtrooms, including one for Wai'anae District Court. The one-story juvenile detention center will be next door. The complex will have 354 parking spaces.

The courthouse was scaled back from 260,000 to 120,000 square feet as a result of what the judiciary said was the rising construction costs across the country in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In addition to about $30 million for design, planning and construction costs, the state Legislature appropriated $95 million for the complex in 2005. But lawmakers balked at appropriating another $48 million last year to cover the rising costs, resulting in the scaled-down project.

Moon also is asking state lawmakers this session for another $15.5 million to complete construction of three of the 13 courtrooms and secured holding cells at the Kapolei courthouse. He also is asking for the creation of two more positions for Family Court judges, who would join the 10 moving out to Kapolei.

MOVING AHEAD

But even if the $15.5 million is not appropriated, state judiciary officials are moving ahead in trying to get construction contracts signed by June 30 this year for the completion of construction by October 2009. Groundbreaking would be this summer.

Some residents are looking forward to the move.

"For us, it's a good idea," said Homer Kaliiwaiwaiole, a 33-year-old Wai'anae resident who left home at 6 a.m. to battle rush hour traffic to be on time for an 8 a.m. Family Court hearing on Friday. "Parking would be better, too."

He and his wife, Michelle, 28, see the value of splitting Family Court to accommodate residents living closer to Honolulu. At the same time, though, Michelle Kaliiwaiwaiole appreciates the judiciary's position about keeping the judges together.

"That makes sense, too," she said.

SOME LAWYERS OPPOSED

King, of the Hawai'i State Bar Association, has collected about 120 signatures, most of them from Family Court lawyers, on a petition to keep "a full spectrum of Family Court services in Honolulu in opposition to the relocation of the entire First Circuit Family Court to Kapolei." The Family Law section of the bar association also passed a resolution opposing the relocation of the entire Family Court to Kapolei.

But Senior Family Court Judge Frances Wong said the new courthouse is designed so that all Family Court judges will have offices on the same floor. She said the judges overwhelmingly wanted to work close to one another.

"It's the nature of our cases, the nature of the stresses on the judges and frankly, on O'ahu, the volume of the cases," she said. "We need to be a backstop for each other."

Keller said the judiciary wants to continue talking to the Family Court lawyers and pointed out that the chief justice said there will be a "minimum" of one courtroom for Family Court matters in Honolulu.

But the courthouse will be built, he said.

Judiciary officials believe the courthouse doors could open as early as January 2010.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.