STAND. COM. REP. NO. 893

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1485
                                        S.D. 1




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

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
1485 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MINORS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to permit the administrative judge of the family court to order
the expungement of records of a minor who has not been
adjudicated as a law violator.

     Your Committee finds that the law currently does not provide
a mechanism whereby an exonerated minor may petition the court
and request that the minor arrest records be expunged.  Your
Committee notes that there are two conflicting considerations
that need to be balanced: (1) the necessity for law enforcement
agencies to maintain adequate identification records so that they
may efficiently perform their statutory duties; and (2) the
potentially disasterous effect the existence of such records
might have on the minor.  Your Committee is concerned that a
minor who has been arrested, but never adjudicated, could
continue to be affected by the existence of the arrest record.
Opportunities for schooling, employment, or professional licenses
may be restricted or nonexistent as a consequence of the mere
fact of an arrest, even if followed by an acquittal or complete
exoneration of the charges involved.  

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Office of the Public Defender and a private citizen.  Testimony

 
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in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of
the Attorney General, the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney
of the City and County of Honolulu, and the Honolulu Police
Department.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Creating a mechanism by which the administrative judge
          of the family court or the judge's designee may order
          the expungement of records upon written application to
          the court by a person age seventeen or older;

     (2)  Inserting the contents of S.B. No. 918 that permits the
          court in certain cases to waive jurisdiction of other
          felony charges arising out of the same episode to the
          charge for which the minor was waived;

     (3)  Inserting the contents of S.B. No. 892 that amends the
          law relating to family court juvenile records and
          hearings; and 

     (4)  Making technical, non-substantive changes for the
          purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
1485, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1485, S.D. 1, and
be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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