CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 93-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2016

RE:    H.B. No. 2559

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 2559, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH,"

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 promote assisted community treatment as an alternative to involuntary hospitalization.  Specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Defines "imminently dangerous to self or others";

     (2)  Repeals the authority of law enforcement officers to take a person subject to an assisted community treatment order into custody and transport them to a designated mental health program without a court order to do so;

     (3)  Changes the maximum period of court-ordered assisted community treatment from one hundred eighty days to one year;

     (4)  Amends the circumstances under which a person subject to an assisted community treatment order may be physically forced to take medication or otherwise compelled to comply with prescribed treatment; and

     (5)  Repeals the sunset date of statutory language authorizing and setting requirements for assisted community treatment.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying the definition of "imminently dangerous to self or others" to mean "that, without intervention, the person will likely become dangerous to self or dangerous to others within the next forty-five days"; and

     (2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2016.

     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 H.B. No. 2559, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2559, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair	____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Co-Chair
____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH, Co-Chair	____________________________ KARL RHOADS, Co-Chair
____________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Co-Chair	____________________________ ROMY M. CACHOLA, Co-Chair