---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO THE RETENTION OF BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE."
description: "Specifies the types of cases in which evidence must be retained post-conviction and the process by which evidence may be disposed of earlier than the standard period of retention, which includes a procedure for defendants to oppose the disposal of biological evidence by filing an objection with the court. Authorizes the court, upon motion of a defendant or prosecutor or on the court's own motion, to order the retention of biological evidence in any felony case for a certain period under certain circumstances. Effective 9/1/2026. (CD1)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 3073"
citation: "Hawaii SB 3073 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Biological Evidence", "Forensic Identification", "Retention"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["KOUCHI"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 41
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-26"
last_action: "2026-06-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8a4461ee-66f3-4271-835e-509852b2c566"
source_url: "https://capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=3073&year=2026"
source_hash: "e48a640bf77f07cb3c82d79f1e864601f6a9dde3b56c6d1c283f97f9fa80f1d0"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-hi"]
---

# Hawaii SB 3073 (2026) — RELATING TO THE RETENTION OF BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE.

Specifies the types of cases in which evidence must be retained post-conviction and the process by which evidence may be disposed of earlier than the standard period of retention, which includes a procedure for defendants to oppose the disposal of biological evidence by filing an objection with the court. Authorizes the court, upon motion of a defendant or prosecutor or on the court's own motion, to order the retention of biological evidence in any felony case for a certain period under certain circumstances. Effective 9/1/2026. (CD1)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **SB3073** (committee substitute) — [source](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB3073_.HTM)
2. **SB3073_CD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB3073_CD1_.HTM)
3. **SB3073_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB3073_HD1_.HTM)
4. **SB3073_SD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB3073_SD1_.HTM)

## Votes

- Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). — **24–0** (pass) · upper
- The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. — **4–0** (pass) · lower
- The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). — **25–0** (pass) · upper
- The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **4–0** (pass) · upper
- The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **3–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- KOUCHI — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-06-26** Act 150, on 06/25/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1251). `became-law`
- **2026-06-26** Act 150, 06/25/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1251). `became-law`
- **2026-05-07** Enrolled to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-08** Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 888). `receipt`
- **2026-05-06** Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). `passage`
- **2026-05-05** Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 814). `receipt`
- **2026-05-01** Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Fukunaga). `passage`
- **2026-05-01** Deferred one day 05-06-26. `deferral`
- **2026-04-29** Forty-eight (48) hours notice Friday, 05-01-26.
- **2026-04-29** Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 14-26) as amended in (CD 1).
- **2026-04-29** 48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-01-26.
- **2026-04-29** Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 14-26).
- **2026-04-23** The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Belatti, Poepoe, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.
- **2026-04-23** The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-22** Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-23-26 2:35PM; Conference Room 325.
- **2026-04-22** Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 720). `receipt`
- **2026-04-21** Senate Conferees Appointed: Rhoads Chair; Gabbard, Awa.
- **2026-04-21** Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 800). `receipt`
- **2026-04-21** House Conferees Appointed: Tarnas Chair; Belatti, Poepoe, Shimizu.
- **2026-04-16** Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 710). `receipt`
- **2026-04-16** Senate disagrees with House amendments. `amendment-failure`
- **2026-04-16** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 738). `introduction, receipt`
- **2026-04-14** Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2026-04-09** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1; placed on the calendar for Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).
- **2026-04-09** Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1978-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2026-03-19** The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Cochran, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Sayama. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-17** Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Thursday, 03-19-26 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
- **2026-03-12** Referred to JHA, referral sheet 17 `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-12** Pass First Reading `reading-1`
- **2026-03-10** Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 356) in amended form (SD 1). `introduction, receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2026-03-06** 48 Hrs. Notice 3-10-26.
- **2026-03-06** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1). `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2026-03-06** Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2889) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2026-02-24** The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-13** The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 02-24-26 9:45AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.
- **2026-02-10** Re-Referred to JDC. `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-30** Referred to PSM, JDC. `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-28** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2026-01-28** Introduced. `introduction`
- **2026-01-26** Pending Introduction.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8a4461ee-66f3-4271-835e-509852b2c566`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).