HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	6
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

Requesting the judiciary to monitor the collection of crime victim compensation fees.

     WHEREAS, the Crime Victim Compensation Commission was established in 1967 to provide compensation to Hawaii's victims of violent crime; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature, in Act 206, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, established the mandatory crime victim compensation fee to enable the Crime Victim Compensation Commission to become fiscally self-sufficient and to eliminate the need for general fund appropriations; and

     WHEREAS, many victims experience financial hardship and cannot afford to pay for medical treatment, mental health treatment, or other services they need in order to recover from the harmful effects of violent crime, and therefore they must seek compensation from the Crime Victim Compensation Commission; and

     WHEREAS, victims and their surviving family members will be further traumatized if the Crime Victim Compensation Commission lacks sufficient funding to provide them with compensation for medical, mental health, funeral, and other expenses; and

     WHEREAS, chapter 351, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires judges to assess the mandatory crime victim compensation fee against every defendant who has the ability to pay and who enters a deferred plea or who is convicted of a petty misdemeanor, misdemeanor, or felony; and

     WHEREAS, the Judiciary's collection of compensation fees is less than their estimated revenue from compensation fee collections; and

     WHEREAS, the Crime Victim Compensation Commission's surveys of compensation fee assessments found that judges did order defendants to pay the compensation fee in all eligible cases; and

     WHEREAS, the failure to order and collect the mandatory compensation fee in all eligible cases jeopardizes the legislative intent of Act 206, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, to eliminate the need for general fund appropriations to fund compensation for crime victims; and

     WHEREAS, the Judiciary is in the best position to monitor whether judges are ordering the mandatory compensation fee; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Judiciary is requested to provide the Legislature with a report detailing the progress of the Judiciary in meeting the requirements of Act 206, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, including specific information regarding:

     (1)  Actual versus estimated compensation fee collections;

     (2)  The number of eligible cases in which the fee was ordered;

     (3)  The number of eligible cases in which the fee was collected;

     (4)  The number of eligible cases in which the fee was waived; and

     (5)  In eligible cases in which the fee was waived, the criteria used for waiving the fee; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Judiciary is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Administrative Director of the Courts, and the Chairperson of the Crime Victim Compensation Commission.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Crime Victim Compensation; Fee Collection Report