CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 109-12

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2012

RE:    S.B. No. 2576

       S.D. 1

       H.D. 3

       C.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2576, S.D. 1, H.D. 3, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROSTITUTION,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this measure is to:

     (1)  Authorize a person convicted of committing the offense of prostitution to file a motion to vacate the conviction under certain circumstances;

     (2)  Establish procedures for the motion to vacate judgment; and

     (3)  Increase the mandatory fines for the offense of prostitution.

     Your Committee on Conference finds that human trafficking, consisting of the subjugation, recruitment, harboring, or transportation of people for the purpose of forced labor or services, or commercial sexual exploitation, is one of the fastest growing criminal industries.  This measure assists in combating human trafficking by allowing trafficking victims who were forced into prostitution to file a motion to have their prostitution convictions vacated from their records.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing references from motion to vacate judgment to motion to vacate conviction;

     (2)  Adding language to require that the filed motion to vacate a prostitution conviction shall be subject to the review and written approval of the state agency or county prosecutor responsible for prosecuting the offense that is the subject of the motion to vacate conviction;

     (3)  Deleting language that requires official documentation of the defendant's status as a victim of trafficking or severe form of trafficking to create a presumption that the defendant's participation in prostitution was a result of being a victim of trafficking;

     (4)  Deleting the definition for "official documentation";

     (5)  Amending the language in section 712-1200(4), Hawaii Revised Statutes, that established a mandatory fine of $1,000 for the commission of the first and any subsequent offense of prostitution to establish instead a minimum fine of $500 for the commission of the first and any subsequent offense of prostitution;

     (6)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2012; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2576, S.D. 1, H.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2576, S.D. 1, H.D. 3, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ JOHN M. MIZUNO, Co-Chair	____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair
____________________________ GILBERT KEITH-AGARAN, Co-Chair	____________________________ MAILE SHIMABUKURO, Co-Chair
____________________________ SHARON E. HAR, Co-Chair