STAND. COM. REP. NO. 118

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1273
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education and Technology, to which was
referred S.B. No. 1273 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR
     TEACHER TRAINEES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to mandate the conduct of
both national and state criminal history checks for teacher
trainees employed by, or seeking employment with, the Department
of Education.  This measure also deletes reference to criminal
history checks for persons employed by, or seeking employment
with, private schools.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Honolulu Police Department, the Hawaii State Teachers
Association, and the Hawaii State Parents, Teachers, and Students
Association.  Testimony in support of this measure with technical
amendments was submitted by the Department of Education.  The
Department of the Attorney General submitted testimony in support
of this measure with additional proposed amendments.

     In addition to including teacher trainees as subject to
criminal history record checks, this measure also makes such
checks mandatory, not discretionary, for all employees of the
Department of Education, and employees of the counties working in
close proximity to children as well.  This is due to the recent
institution of stricter language guidelines required by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which no longer allows

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 118
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permissive language in state statutes that require both state and
national criminal history record checks.  

     Because of these FBI guidelines, this measure deletes
private schools from section 846-43, Hawaii Revised Statutes
(HRS), as the FBI will not release criminal history record
information to any non-governmental agency.  However, the
Department of the Attorney General has testified that private
schools should still be allowed to obtain state criminal history
record information.  As proposed by the Department of the
Attorney General, your Committee has added a new section to
Chapter 846, HRS, which will allow private schools to obtain
state criminal history record information.

     Your Committee also amended this measure to eliminate
superfluous language at the request of the Department of
Education.  Your Committee also made other technical,
nonsubstantive amendments to reflect preferred drafting style.

     Your Committee is aware that by adding the Department of the
Attorney General's proposed amendments, the title of this measure
is no longer appropriate.  However, your Committee believes that
this measure is important, and requests the Committee on
Judiciary to attach the contents of this measure to a more
appropriately titled vehicle, if possible.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Education and Technology that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of S.B. No. 1273, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1273,
S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Education and
                                   Technology,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

 
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