HI HB480

Requires the family court to appoint counsel to indigent parents in foster care cases under Chapter 587A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, changing current law from discretionary "may appoint" to mandatory "shall appoint."

Court must make every effort to provide counsel at the first hearing attended by the legal parent, and cannot enter prejudicial rulings or orders until counsel appears or the parent waives the right to counsel on the record.

Extends eligibility for court-appointed counsel to parents who were previously represented by private counsel but are now indigent and no longer represented.

Allows courts to grant appointed counsel a continuance if counsel is not appointed at least three days prior to the hearing.

Applies to indigent legal parents unless they knowingly and voluntarily waive their right to appointed counsel on the record, based on court-established indigency guidelines.