STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2095

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2366

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2366 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SEXUAL ASSAULT EVIDENCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require certain law enforcement agencies and departments to compile information on untested sexual assault collection kits and transmit that information to the Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Honolulu Police Department, Hawaii Women's Coalition, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, and Hawai‘i State Democratic Women's Caucus.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee finds that there exists a nationwide problem of sexual assault collection kits going untested.  Thorough, timely, and accurate testing of sexual assault collection kits is vital to successful apprehension and conviction of offenders.  To facilitate more universal testing of such kits, the Attorney General should be kept apprised of the number of untested kits in the possession of law enforcement agencies and departments.

     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. 2366 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means.

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

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CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair