STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2120

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2615

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2615 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DNA COLLECTION FOR VIOLENT CRIMES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Expand the offender database to require DNA collection from all persons arrested for the commission of a violent felony offense; and

     (2)  Provide for the expungement of a DNA record, in certain circumstances.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Maui Police Department, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, and DNA Saves.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Honolulu Police Department.

     Your Committee finds that DNA collection is important in confirming the arrestee's identity; providing background information that increases the safety of staff, the detainee population, and the new detainee; identifying the correct perpetrator and exonerating the innocent; creating more efficient investigative practices; and reducing law enforcement costs.  Currently, almost thirty states, the federal government, and the Department of Defense are authorized to collect DNA samples from arrestees.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting language to:

     (1)  Establish a new section in chapter 844D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to require DNA collection from all persons arrested for the commission or attempted commission of a felony offense involving a violent crime and to establish collection responsibilities of the arresting authority;

     (2)  Amend section 831-3.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide for the expungement of arrestee DNA;

     (3)  Amend section 844D-71, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to restrict the applicability of that section to expungement of DNA samples, specimens, and profiles provided by arrestees pursuant to the new section in chapter 844D, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (4)  Amend sections 844D-83(a), 844D-113(a)(1), and 844D‑(114)(a)(1), Hawaii Revised Statutes, to include the unauthorized use of samples or profiles of individuals arrested for violent felony offenses;

     (5)  Insert an appropriation to cover expenses of DNA collection and analysis;

     (6)  Change the effective date to January 1, 2015, with the appropriation effective on July 1, 2014; and

     (7)  Make 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. 2615, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2615, 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