STAND. COM. REP. NO. 685

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 11

       S.D. 2

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 11, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE SHERIFF,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to create a transition task force to plan for the establishment of a Department of the Sheriff to assume responsibilities and functions currently exercised by the Sheriff Division of the Department of Public Safety.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Nora A. Nomura, Deputy Executive Director, Hawaii Government Employees Association; and forty-three individuals.

     Your Committee finds that the Sheriff Division of the Department of Public Safety shoulders many responsibilities integral to preserving the public peace and safety.  The myriad responsibilities may warrant establishing an agency separate from the Department of Public Safety, mirroring the practice of several mainland states.  Creating a transition task force to study the establishment of a Department of the Sheriff will enable the State to determine the merits of the plan and outline any potential concerns or shortfalls beforehand.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requiring the task force to cease to exist on May 1, 2012;

     (2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of style, clarity, and consistency.

     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. 11, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 11, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair