The head of the state Senate judiciary committee will likely call for creation of a task force to address the problem of O'ahu's estimated 61,500 unserved bench warrants, she said yesterday.

"This is worse than I thought," Judiciary Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa said during a hearing on a bill aimed at reducing the backlog.

Nearly 51,000 of the outstanding warrants are for traffic cases, but Hanabusa was particularly concerned that the state Judiciary has focused its new computer system on traffic warrants rather than felony warrants related to serious crimes.

Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), also expressed surprise that state Judiciary officials weren't able to provide answers about the number of unserved criminal warrants.

"I would never have expected to be told that they don't even know how many criminal warrants are outstanding," Hanabusa said after the hearing.

The hearing follows The Advertiser's four-day series this week on the mounting bench warrant backlog problem, which has raised concerns about public safety, the community's confidence in the judicial system and the potential loss of millions of dollars in unpaid fees and fines. Some drivers racked up multiple warrants for traffic citations, including one driver who hit and killed a 7-year-old boy in 2001, the newspaper found.

The committee heard testimony on a bill to authorize an amnesty program for people named in bench warrants related to offenses that do not carry prison terms. In addition, the bill would authorize retired police officers and sheriffs to serve warrants.

Walter Ozawa, deputy administrative director of the courts, noted the newspaper series in his testimony and said the state Judiciary appreciates the reasons behind the bill. But he asked the committee to hold the measure, saying the Judiciary's new computer system and new traffic citations will reduce the number of warrants.

Ozawa blamed the courts' old computer system for why officials couldn't supply answers about the warrant numbers sought by Hanabusa. He called it the "most broken system."

The proposals also drew opposition from agencies that didn't dispute the warrants problem, but questioned whether the bill is the best solution. Honolulu police officials said an amnesty might send the "wrong message" to those who commit crimes.

The state attorney general and city prosecutors also opposed the measure, while the Public Defender's Office supported it.

Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), asked police officials whether officers conduct a warrant check on motorists stopped for traffic citations and was told that the officers are not mandated by department policy to do so.

Instead, warrant checks are left to officers' discretion, said Capt. Raymond Ancheta. When officers do make checks, only a small percentage of the drivers have warrants, he said.

Lack of a mandatory policy may be one reason why some drivers can be stopped for traffic citations but not arrested on outstanding traffic warrants.

Carol McNamee, vice president for public policy, at MADDHawai'i, said The Advertiser's series made public a problem that the Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter had suspected but did not have the resources to substantiate.

McNamee said a significant number of the traffic warrants may be for impaired drivers, which means they are probably still drinking and driving and posing a threat to others on the road.

She said she supports the formation of a task force to come up with "creative solutions."

Hanabusa indicated that a task force to look into the warrants backlog would include representatives of law enforcement, the courts and others.

Hanabusa said her committee will later decide whether to pass the warrants measure out of the committee.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.