STAND. COM. REP. NO. 92

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 705

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 705 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to offer release on supervised parole to eligible inmates prior to the expiration of their maximum sentence.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Hawaii Paroling Authority, Crime Victim Compensation Commission, Community Alliance on Prisons, and one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney and The Council of State Governments Justice Center.

     Your Committee finds that Hawaii inmates considered at risk for committing new offenses increasingly have been released from prison without any supervision.  These offenders tend to recidivate at a higher rate that inmates placed on parole.  Communities will benefit if certain offenders are released prior to the expiration of their maximum sentence and supervised for a period of time under post-release programs.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Restoring the repealed section 706-670(5), Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (2)  Requiring a parole hearing to perform a validated risk assessment and determine if an offender qualifies for supervised parole prior to the expiration of a maximum sentence;

     (3)  Allowing the Hawaii Paroling Authority the discretion to not grant supervised parole prior to the expiration of a maximum sentence for certain offenders; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 705, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 705, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair