Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2698 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend provisions of Hawaii's sex offender registration and notification laws to comply with the State Supreme Court's ruling in State of Hawaii v. Eto Bani, in which Hawaii's previous law was struck down.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, the Honolulu City and County Police Department, and Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii's sex offender registration and notification law, chapter 846E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was invalidated by the Hawaii Supreme Court in November, 2001, on the grounds that it violated a person's right to due process under the state and federal Constitutions.

This measure seeks to remedy the statutory problems identified by the Hawaii Supreme Court by establishing a mechanism that would balance the State's substantial interest in requiring sex offender registration with the offender's interest in protecting against the erroneous deprivation of his or her liberty. This measure limits the public's access to registration information regarding convicted sex offenders to only those offenders deemed a high risk after a court hearing.

Your Committee supports this measure and finds that it strikes an appropriate balance between the need to protect residents of the State, and the need to ensure that our residents are afforded all of their rights under the Constitution.

Your Committee made numerous amendments to this measure throughout, to correct incorrect references, inaccuracies, and other technical and drafting errors.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2698, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2698, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.