Question: What if my husband is under 80 but he can’t serve on a jury because he’s disabled? Do I ignore the survey or should I fill it out for him?
Answer: You are referring to the 2024 Jury Qualification Questionnaire, which the Hawaii State Judiciary began mailing out to about 255,000 Hawaii residents Friday. As we wrote last week, there are several exemptions to jury duty, including being 80 or older. Having a disability is not an automatic exemption, but an addressee can be excused on that basis, if, as defined by Hawaii Revised Statutes 612-3, they have “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person’s major life activities, (have) a record of such an impairment, or (are) regarded as having such an impairment.”
Don’t ignore the questionnaire addressed to your husband. You can fill it out for him if necessary, noting that fact on question No. 12, as well as your reason for doing so. What else to do depends on your husband’s situation. If he lives in a care home, you would mention that on question No. 12 and can attach a note saying that the addressee is unable to fill out the questionnaire or serve on a jury because he lives in a care home; then return the questionnaire in the envelope provided, according to the Hawaii State Judiciary.
If your husband lives with you at home, you can fill out the survey for him (see question No. 12, as noted) and attach a doctor’s note certifying his disability before returning the questionnaire. “The person claiming disqualification due to a disability must submit a physician’s or physician assistant’s certificate as to the disability. Attach the certificate to your jury questionnaire and place in the envelope provided. If you are unable to submit a medical certificate within the 10-day deadline, you will have an opportunity to submit one if you are summoned,” according to the Judiciary’s website.
To be clear, a person seeking to be excused due to a disability may fill out the survey and provide the doctor’s note themselves — this option is not reserved for those so incapacitated that they cannot handle the process on their own.
People with a temporary medical condition should not seek to be excused via the juror questionnaire, which will be used to create a jury pool for all of 2024. If the disabling condition persists and they are summoned to serve on a jury, they can seek to be excused at that point.
Q: My husband has gotten a new job out of state and is moving now. I will have to quit my job to follow him after we sell our house. Can I apply for unemployment in Hawaii even though I am quitting my job? I have no choice but to quit because it’s not possible to do my job remotely. Neither of us is in the military.
A: “In most, if not all cases such as (this), the question whether the individual will be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits must go through the adjudication process. When the facts establish continued employment was still available to the employee, the separation will be viewed as a voluntary quit and a determination of whether the leaving of work was with good cause will be made,” said Bill Kunstman, a spokesperson for Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
You may file a claim at huiclaims.hawaii.gov to get your case started, knowing that you won’t be deemed eligible for benefits unless it’s determined that you had good cause to quit.
Pali night work
Nighttime work will begin Sunday on the Pali Highway from Vineyard Boulevard to the Wylie Street interchange, the state Department of Transportation announced. “Paving operations will occur nightly, from Sunday nights through Friday mornings, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Motorists can expect one to two lane closures at a time, with one lane always remaining open in both directions,” it said.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
