(a) There is created in the state treasury the litigation deposits trust account. There shall be deposited into this account all moneys received through any civil action in which the State is a party where the settlement amount is $100,000 or higher, except for those actions involving departments able to procure their own legal services as provided for by section 28-8.3 and where no other state statute or court order specifically provides for the deposit of moneys received through the action.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 28-16

  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
(b) The account shall be administered by the department of the attorney general. The department shall maintain accounting records of account moneys, including subsidiary records of individual litigation deposits and disbursements thereof. Moneys in the account may be separated into subsidiary accounts; provided that one subsidiary account shall not be commingled with moneys from another subsidiary account except for deposit or investment purposes under subsection (d).
(c) Disbursements from each subsidiary account maintained under subsection (b) may include attorney’s fees and other necessary expenses that the department determines to be reasonable and directly related to prosecution of the civil action for which the subsidiary account is maintained; provided that in the case of moneys deposited as a result of recoveries by an agency to which a non-general fund applies, the moneys shall be held and disbursed intact for deposit to the credit of the non-general fund. Money deposited in the litigation deposits trust account pursuant to an order of the court shall be disbursed in accordance with the order of the court. Any residual funds remaining in a subsidiary account shall be transferred to the respective non-general fund with which the civil action is associated or, if no specific non-general fund applies, transferred to the emergency and budget reserve fund established pursuant to § 328L-3, no later than thirty days after the civil action for which the subsidiary account is maintained is closed and all costs of that civil action have been paid, unless otherwise provided for by statute.
(d) Moneys in the litigation deposits trust account may be invested by the department in securities as provided by section 36-21. Investment earnings shall be deposited in the general fund.
(e) The department shall submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session on:

(1) The transactions, by subsidiary account, that take place in the litigation deposits trust account for each fiscal year; and
(2) A summary of the collections made in any amount on behalf of other departments and agencies specifying the appropriate number of transactions and amount collected for each department and agency.
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