STAND. COM. REP. NO. 671

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 873

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 873, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COLLECTION OF RESTITUTION FOR CRIME VICTIMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to support and facilitate the collection of court-ordered restitution for crime victims by:

     (1)  Establishing requirements and procedures for income withholding orders for crime victim restitution;

     (2)  Repealing a court's authority to revoke restitution once ordered;

     (3)  Requiring that money posted as bail be applied toward the payment of any court-ordered restitution, fines, or fees in the same case;

     (4)  Expanding crime victims' access to adult probation records to include access to the defendant's record of compliance with court-ordered payments; and

     (5)  Appropriating funds to the Judiciary for the purpose of enhancing the collection of restitution.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Judiciary and the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu.

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committee finds that while courts order the payment of restitution to victims in many criminal cases, it is not strictly enforced, and victims often must resort to private civil actions against the defendant.  Not only does this situation decrease the chances that a victim will ever receive the restitution payments that they were promised, but it further demoralizes the victim and negates the benefits that the restitution was intended to provide.  This measure promotes the consistent and comprehensive enforcement of restitution collection to ensure that restitution provides an effective tool for restoring crime victims.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Expanding the types of court orders having priority over income withholding orders for crime victim restitution to include family court orders made pursuant to chapter 571, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and child support orders made pursuant to chapter 576D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to comply with federal law;

     (2)  Removing the reference to penalties under contempt of court for violations of the prohibition against employers refusing to hire a prospective employee, discharging an employee, or taking any other disciplinary action against an employee based upon an order or notice to withhold income for crime victim restitution and making such actions a misdemeanor; and

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

     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. 873, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 873, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair