STAND. COM. REP. NO.  108

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2017

RE:   H.B. No. 845

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred H.B. No. 845 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IDENTIFICATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Public Safety in collaboration with county and state agencies to issue civil identification cards to inmates and to assist inmates in obtaining their birth certificate, social security card, and other relevant identification necessary for successful reentry into society.

African American Lawyers Association, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, and many concerned individuals supported this measure.  The Department of Public Safety, Hawaii Friends of Restorative Justice, Ho‘omana Pono, LLC., Community Alliance on Prisons, YWCA Oahu, and many concerned individuals offered comments on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Extending eligibility to obtain a civil identification card and relevant identification documents to inmates who have one year or less remaining on their prison sentence;

     (2)  Requiring the Department of Public Safety to collaborate with federal agencies to assist inmates in obtaining their appropriate documents and identification cards;

     (3)  Requiring the Department of Public Safety to submit an annual report to the Legislature on the number of inmates released from prison with, and without, appropriate identification cards and documents, and to identify any impediments encountered in assisting inmates in obtaining their documents and identification cards; and

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

Should subsequent committees decide to deliberate further on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that they consider the concern that furloughed inmates may use their civil identification cards and other identification documents to leave the State without permission.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 845, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 845, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair