CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 195

                            Honolulu, Hawaii
                                            , 1999

                            RE:   S.C.R. No. 184
                                  S.D. 1
                                  H.D. 1
                                  C.D. 1




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

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the
Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives
in S.C.R. No. 184, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:  

     "SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING A STUDY OF HAWAII'S
     LAWS RELATING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE," 

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to
recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the
adoption of this concurrent resolution in an amended form.

     The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to request a
study of Hawaii's laws relating to domestic violence.

     Your Committee finds that over the past decade, the
Legislature has made great progress in its efforts to recognize
and prevent domestic abuse.  These efforts have included the
adoption of mandatory periods of separation between family and
household members, mandatory sentencing and fines for domestic
abuse convictions, and mandatory offender treatment and
intervention.  However, in attempting to address the myriad
aspects of domestic violence, piecemeal changes have been made to

 
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the law resulting in ambiguous interpretations or contradictory
application of the law.  Therefore, your Committee agrees that a
thorough review of Hawaii's laws related to domestic violence is
necessary to identify loopholes and inconsistencies in the laws.
Your Committee acknowledges that in order to fully comprehend the
legal and practical application of these laws, various
constituencies should be consulted in conducting the study.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
concurrent resolution by:

     (1)  Assigning the responsibility for conducting the study
          to the Legislative Reference Bureau (Bureau) rather
          than a task force;

     (2)  Requesting that the Bureau consult with the
          constituencies formerly named as the task force; and

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

     Your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent
and purpose of S.C.R. No. 184, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein,
and recommends that it be adopted in the form attached hereto as
S.C.R. No. 184, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.

                                   Respectfully submitted,

MANAGERS ON THE PART OF THE        MANAGERS ON THE PART OF THE
            HOUSE                             SENATE
                                   
                                   
                                   
______________________________     ______________________________
DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Co-Chair        AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair
                                   
                                   
                                   
______________________________     ______________________________
ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Co-Chair         MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair
                                   
                                   
                                   
______________________________     ______________________________
MICHAEL P. KAHIKINA, Co-Chair      SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Member

 
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______________________________
DAVID A. PENDLETON, Member


 
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