STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1191

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1248

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 1248, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NAME CHANGES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to limit the options available to convicted sex offenders when changing their names.

     Currently, a person may be able to change his or her name by a simple petition to the Lieutenant Governor's Office.  There is no administrative hearing to test the validity of a petitioner's name change request.  The office relies solely upon the information provided by the petitioner in determining which name changes are appropriate for processing.

     Your Committee finds that recently, a number of convicted sex offenders with an ongoing obligation to register as sex offenders have petitioned to change their names, some of them while still incarcerated for their crime.  It was pointed out that if a convicted sex offender changes his or her name, it will be extremely difficult to track that individual if that individual does not comply with the requirements of sex offender registration.

     This bill provides that a convicted sex offender may change his or her name in one of several ways such as through a Family Court order, upon marriage, by order of a court in any other jurisdiction, or by order of a court in this jurisdiction that determines that it is in the interest of justice and that it will not adversely affect public safety.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the bill from the Lieutenant Governor's Office and the Attorney General's Office.  There was no testimony in opposition to the bill.

     Your Committee amended the bill by changing the effective date from January 1, 2050, to be effective upon approval.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1248, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1248, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair