STAND. COM. REP. NO. 261

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 155

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam President:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 155 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SEX OFFENDERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to expand public internet access of convicted sex offenders.

     Currently, public access to registration information of sex offenders is provided through on-site public access and internet public access.  The on-site public access is at the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center and at designated police stations in each county.  The internet public access is only provided for the most serious offenses and does not disclose all registered sex offenders.  This bill will provide for expanded public internet access of all registered sex offenders.

     Your Committee heard testimony from several concerned citizens and the Executive Director of Hawaii Family Forum in support of expanding the list of sex offenders to be included on the internet. Your Committee heard testimony from the Attorney General and the Public Defender against the expansion of sex offender information on the internet. However your Committee found that the public interest in expanding the public access on the internet was more compelling in safeguarding public safety. It is important that the public has ready access to the sex offender registration information.

     Act 230, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, enacted two new sex offenses as class A felonies. These two felonies were not included in the registration statute. One of the new class A felony is §707-730(1)(d) which prohibits a person from knowingly subjecting to sexual penetration another person who is mentally defective. The other new class A felony is §707-730(1)(e) which prohibits a person from knowingly subjecting to sexual penetration another person who is mentally incapacitated or physically helpless as a result of the influence of a substance that the actor knowingly caused to be administered to the other person without the other person's consent. The bill was amended to include the two class A felonies in the definition of "aggravated sexual offenses" and "sexual offenses" under Chapter 846E, Hawaii Revised Statutes. 

     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 S.B. No. 155, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 155, 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