STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1139

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1403

       H.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred H.B. No. 1403, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII PAROLING AUTHORITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to improve the operations and effectiveness of the Hawaii Paroling Authority by converting the two part-time positions on the Paroling Authority's panel to full-time positions and appropriating unspecified amounts of moneys for these positions.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Paroling Authority and the Department of Human Resources Development.

     Your Committee finds that the Hawaii Paroling Authority's workload in the past thirty-six years has increased eight-fold due to the rise in incarceration rates.  Despite the increased workload, the Hawaii Paroling Authority continues to be composed of one full-time and two part-time positions, which is the same number of positions allotted when it was created in 1976.

     Your Committee further finds that the Hawaii Paroling Authority is experiencing severe difficulties in carrying out its responsibilities in assuring that the terms and conditions of parole are properly enforced with its current number of positions.  As such, it is the intent of your Committee to convert the two part-time panel positions of the Hawaii Paroling Authority to full-time members in order to provide the Hawaii Paroling Authority with the personnel it needs to effectively and efficiently manage its current and future workloads.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1403, H.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair