STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2999

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  H.B. No. 2087
                                        H.D. 2
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education and Technology, to which was
referred H.B. No. 2087, H.D. 2, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JUVENILES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to allow limited access to
confidential Family Court juvenile records by school officials
and persons involved in the treatment and supervision of minors
in the areas of child abuse and law enforcement.

     Testimony in support of the measure was received from the
Department of Education, Hawaii State Teachers Association,
Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and one individual.
Testimony in opposition to the measure was received from the
Judiciary, Department of Human Services, ACLU Hawaii, and
Catholic Charities Child Sexual Assault Treatment Program.

     Your Committee recognizes that the incidences of school
violence in Hawaii are on the rise, and that the Department of
Education is faced with the difficulty of balancing a student's
educational needs with the issues of ensuring school safety.
While your Committee can appreciate the purpose behind this bill,
your Committee believes that, as drafted, the measure is overly
broad and could have unintended negative consequences, such as
the wider dissemination of information than what was intended.


 
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     Your Committee believes that existing laws requiring
confidentiality of juvenile records are based upon the principles
that juveniles should be afforded additional protections and
treated differently from adult offenders, due to the heightened
expectations by the court that juvenile offenders may be more
readily rehabilitated.  Therefore, extra care is needed to avoid
adverse effects on juveniles such as labeling, stereotyping, or
differential treatment that could result from dissemination of
such information.  However, your Committee agrees that under
certain situations, information about students who have been
adjudicated of serious acts of violence, should be made available
to the Department of Education, in order to better protect the
student, other students, and staff.

     Your Committee finds that section 571-84.6, Hawaii Revised
Statutes (HRS), already allows public access to juvenile records
of a minor who has been taken into custody for committing serious
acts of violence.  However, your Committee finds that the process
to obtain such information from the Family Court may be a lengthy
one.  Therefore, it is your Committee's intent that Family Court
work collaboratively with the Department of Education to create a
more expeditious process for release of information for
education-related purposes.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by deleting its substance and inserting the contents of
S.B. No. 2996, S.D. 2.  More specifically, your Committee has
amended this bill by:

     (1)  Removing the findings and purpose section;

     (2)  Amending section 571-84.6, HRS, to require the Family
          Court to provide reasonable access to all records
          relating to juveniles that are open for public
          inspection to the Department of Education and for
          Family Court to expedite the release of the requested
          information;

     (3)  Amending section 571-84.6, HRS, to include acts that
          result in substantial bodily injury;

     (4)  Requiring the family court to provide written notice to
          the Department of Education of a minor adjudicated or
          taken into custody under section 571-84.6(b) or (c),
          HRS, including the minor's full name, address, and date
          of birth;

     (5)  Requiring the Department of Education to establish
          safeguards that protect the confidentiality and

 
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          integrity of the information received from Family
          Court;

     (6)  Requiring the Department of Education, in collaboration
          with the Family Court, to establish policies and
          procedures for the dissemination of the confidential
          information received from Family Court;

     (7)  Requiring the Department of Education to report its
          findings and recommendations to the legislature prior
          to the convening of the 2001 regular session; and

     (8)  Changing the effective date to August 1, 2001, and
          providing that the Act be repealed on June 30, 2003,
          and that section 571-84.6 be reenacted in the form in
          which it read before the approval of the Act.

     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 H.B. No. 2087, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that
it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as
H.B. No. 2087, H.D. 2, 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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