Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 6, 1 June 1993 — For breaches of DHHL trust [ARTICLE]

For breaches of DHHL trust

Legislature grants extension for homestead claims

by Deborah L. Ward A two-year extension granted by the Legislature will allow native Hawaiians until Aug. 31, 1 995 to file claims as individuals for active damages or out-of-pocket losses through breaches of the Hawaiian Home Lands trust from 1959 to 1988. In March and April this year more than 600 people attended public workshops held statewide by the Hawaiian Homelands Trust Claims Office to explain the claims process, how the office and review panel operate, and to help the community file claims. Claims Office executive director, attorney Melody K. MacKenzie says that many questions eame from homestead applicants seeking to know their status on the waiting list, and others who felt DHHL was not answering their questions. MacKenzie said that 80 percent of claims received by the claims office involve individuals still on the waiting list after an average of 10 to 15 years, however the earliest elaim so far dates back to 1959. The panel's policy is to

encourage everyone to file a elaim if they think there was a breach of trust, even if they don't have all the evidence right now. Onee a* elaim is received, the Hawaiian Claims Office staff first determines whether it falls within the legal guidelines: • the elaim must be for actual damages or direct, monetary out-of-pocket loss suffered as a result of breach of trust; • the breach of trust must have occurred between Aug. 21, 1959 and June 30, 1988; • the damage must have been caused by an act or omission of an employee of the state in the management and disposition of trust resources under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. The Claims Office will then investigate eaeh qualified case, to establish the facts by gathering documents and evidence, interviewing witnesses and researching the law to show whether a breach of trust did occur. Onee investigation has been completed, the case will

then be heard, mueh as in a court, by a hearings officer, before it goes to the Claims Review Panel for review and decision-making. The panel's decision will be sent to the state Legislature, with either a recommendation for compensation or corrective action that a claimant may, at any time, accept or reject. Claimants may bring in their own attomey at any time, or represent themselves. In certain cases, the claims office may provide legal assistance to claimants who cannot afford an attomey. If a claimant does not accept the Legislature's finding, the individual still has the right to file a suit in court. If the claimant does accept the Legislature's recommendation, it is up to the panel's staff to assure receipt of compensation or that corrective action is taken. To date almost 100 claims have been accepted by the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Individual Claims Review Panel, whieh was created by Act 323 of the 1991 state Legislature to

receive and review these individual claims. The five-member panel, chaired by attorney Peter Liholiho Trask, is supported by staff of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Claims Office, located at 828 Fort St. Mall, Suite 600, P.O. Box 641, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96809. Its phone number is (808) 586-2826. Members of the Claims Review Panel, in addition to Trask, are Alexander A.S. Ahuna, of Maui, Monsignor Charles A. Kekumano, of Honolulu, Marie A. McDonald (the panel's only homesteader), of Kamuela, and

Warren C.R. Perry, Esq. of Lāwa'i, Kaua'i. The claims office is administratively assigned under the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, due to its investigative responsibilities. It is not part of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, despite its similar-sounding name, nor is it a part of OHA. Its sole purpose is to help homesteaders and homestead applicants to understand, and to assist them to file breach of trust claims under the law, for review by the Claims Review Panel.

Follow-up information workshops by the Hawaiian Claims Office will be held this month on Kaua'i, Maui and O'ahu: • June 15, 6- 8:30 p.m. at the Lihu'e Neighborhood Center, 3353 Eono St. • June 17, 6-8:30 p.m. at Wai'anae District Park multipurpose building, 85-601 Farrington Highway • June 22, 6-8:30 p.m. at the Lahaina Neighborhood Center, 1840 Honoapi'ilani Highway.