--- title: "Barry Kurren | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/barry-kurren-hawaii-us-magistrate" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Barry Kurren U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii · U.S. Magistrate Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii - State: Hawaii - Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge - Service status: recalled - Last verified: 2026-07-29 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Recalled for full-time service as U.S. Magistrate Judge, District of Hawaii, effective April 2, 2017 through April 2, 2018 under a Ninth Circuit recall order - Barry M. Kurren is a U.S. Magistrate Judge serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, appointed in 1992 to a renewable eight‐year term - Judge, State of Hawaii - District Court - Acting Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands - Law clerk to Judge Martin Pence, U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii ### Education - William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii — J.D. (1977) ### Additional information - Magistrate, District Court, D. Hawaii, 1992-present - Listed as a Hawaii magistrate judge in the March 31, 2026 CJRA report. - Retired from active U.S. Magistrate Judge service at the end of March 2016. - J.D. — Univ. of Hawaii — 1977 - B.A. — Univ. of Hawaii — 1973 - Undergraduate degree — University of Hawaii — 1973 — Graduated with highest honors. - Practitioner, Honolulu, HI - Instructor, Univ. of Hawaii - William S. Richardson School of Law - Attorney, Private practice, Honolulu - Practiced for several years before the bench. - Served briefly as a Hawaii District Court Judge before appointment to the federal bench. - Past president of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association. - Instructor at the William S. Richardson School of Law and the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. - Kurren’s long tenure reflects continuity in the federal judiciary of Hawaii, where magistrate judges are appointed by the district’s judges rather than the President - Listed among the active judges of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, which is located at 300 Ala Moana Blvd, C‐338, Honolulu, HI 96850. - As a magistrate judge, he handles certain federal cases under the authority granted by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, often in matters of lesser complexity or as part of a broader case management role - Former member of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Magistrate Judges Advisory Group. - Former member of the Ninth Circuit Magistrate Judges Executive Board. ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=97) - [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=97) - [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=105) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9206/barry-kurren/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9206/barry-kurren/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Barry M. Kurren](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) - [U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii biography: Barry M. Kurren](https://www.hid.uscourts.gov/docs/bios/BMK_Bio.pdf) - [www.hid.uscourts.gov](https://www.hid.uscourts.gov/docs/bios/BMK_Bio.pdf) - [www.hid.uscourts.gov](https://www.hid.uscourts.gov/docs/Miscellaneous/BMK%202015%20PRESS%20RELEASE.pdf) - [www.hid.uscourts.gov](https://www.hid.uscourts.gov/files/order344/Kurren%20Recall.pdf) - [www.uscourts.gov](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9206/barry-kurren/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Barry M. Kurren](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/barry-kurren-hawaii-us-magistrate", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/barry-kurren-hawaii-us-magistrate", "name": "Barry Kurren | KnowJudges", "description": "Barry Kurren, U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. 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This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.