It used to be difficult to see the personal financial disclosures filed by judges.

To get to the reports of Hawaii’s federal judges, you had to schedule an appointment to view the disclosures in Washington, D.C. That’s right. They were not publicly available in Honolulu, to the best of my knowledge.

And to see check the finances of Hawaii state judges, you had to appear in person at the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, sign in, and request to a particular report. A copy of the sign-in sheet was sent to the judge. For most people who might have been interested, that was a real disincentive.

Well, the world has changed. The conservative group, Judicial Watch, engaged in a legal battle and now has the financial disclosures of federal judges going back to 2003 available online. The most recent reports available are for the 2009 calendar year. Magistrate judges are not included.

The forms include sections for non-investment income, positions with organizations or businesses, investments, gifts received, agreements (such as for future employment, or participation in a pension plan from a former employer), and reimbursements received.

A copy of the instructions, useful for interpreting the disclosure reports, is also available.

And state judges also file public financial disclosures and these are available online. But you have to know what you are looking for, since they are not mentioned on the Judiciary’s main web page, or in its “News and Reports” page, where the reports are actually filed. You have to click through yet another level to “Reports” in order to find the link to the personal financial disclosures.

I finally had to use the “Search the site” function to come up with the link to the 2011 disclosures. No links to earlier years appear to be available.

But after hearing from Mark Santoki, Communications and Community Relations Officer for the Judiciary, I went back and looked for an easier way to find these disclosure statements. From the main Judiciary page, select the menu at the top of the page for “News & Reports,” and choose “Reports.” The financial disclosures are in that list of documents. I apparently made the mistake of clicking on “News & Reports,” rather than the menu item for “Reports.”

All full-time and part-time judges statewide file public reports. It’s a long list.

I have not inspected more than a fraction of the disclosures, so if you’re browsing and turn up anything that might raise eyebrows, please let me know.