STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2693

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2218

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2218, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRONIC MONITORING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to require electronic monitoring of persons convicted of violating a domestic abuse temporary restraining order or protective order.

     The Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence submitted testimony in support of this measure.  The Judiciary submitted comments.

     According to the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four women in the United States will experience domestic violence during her lifetime.  In 2007, eighty‑six per cent of the legal assistance provided in Hawaii was for victims of domestic violence.  Many victims of domestic violence obtain a temporary restraining order or protective order against the batterer.

     Your Committee finds that electronic monitoring of violators of temporary restraining orders and protective orders provides an additional measure of protection by alerting a victim if the batterer is within the defined geographic exclusion zone so that the victim may find a safe location.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2218, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair