An Upgrade for the Family Court

The First Circuit Family Court gets a new home in the next few weeks, now that the Kapolei Court Complex is completed.

Designed by local firm Architects Hawaii Ltd., the facility is organized with a three-part circulation system, so that judges, staff, detainees and the public can move separately, privately and securely. The new courtrooms even incorporate state-of-the-art technology, such as cameras and microphones that record all the proceedings digitally to in-house servers.

Moving into the complex along with the Family Court: the Waianae District Court and a juvenile detention center.

With the building’s completion, we can update two HONOLULU Magazine stories. One is brand new, in this months’ issue: a detailed look into the normally off-limits Family Court, by writer Jana Wolff. Wolff’s research was conducted in the Family Court’s downtown location, before the court’s move out west. Photos in that article show those Alakea St. quarters.

And in November 2008, we profiled Angie Chinen, a crane operator who helped build the complex. Nice to see the fruits of all that hard work.