Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 826 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to expand the list of persons who are authorized to take a victim of child abuse into protective custody and are required to report cases of child abuse.

Specifically, this bill adds to this list employees and officers with law enforcement power authorized by the Director of Public Safety and investigators appointed by the Attorney General.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this bill from the Department of Public Safety.

Your Committee finds that the addition of officers and employees of the Department of Public Safety with law enforcement powers to those who are required to report cases of child abuse to the Department of Human Services will improve the efficiency of law enforcement services. By clarifying that initial reports from these state law enforcement officers are as valid as initial reports from county police officers, the Department of Human Services will no longer need to have the state law enforcement officer initially contact a county police officer before responding to a report of child abuse.

Your Committee has amended this bill by deleting investigators appointed by the Attorney General from the additions made to the list of persons who are required to report cases of child abuse and who have the authority to take a victim of child abuse into custody. Your Committee also amended the effective date to July 1, 2010, for the purpose of stimulating further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 826, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 826, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.