STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2081

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2345

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2345 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a Sexual Assault Response Team to address the manner in which sexual assault evidence collection kits are processed and tracked, and to ensure that victims of sexual assault are informed of their rights under the law;

(2) Require annual reports from the Sexual Assault Response Team to the Department of the Attorney General on the status of sexual assault evidence kits and an annual summary of reports by the Department of the Attorney General to the Legislature; and

(3) Appropriate monies to fund the Sexual Assault Response Team.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, American Association of University Women of Hawaii, Joyful Heart Foundation, and six individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Honolulu Police Department, and Sex Abuse Treatment Center.

Your Committee finds that sexual assault evidence kits are valuable to the effective prosecution of crimes of sexual violence. A backlog of untested sexual assault evidence kits still exists in Hawaii. An effective and consistent set of policies describing the methodology and timeline of processing sexual assault evidence kits will enhance public safety by protecting sexual assault survivors, exonerating the innocent, and holding offenders accountable.

Your Committee has heard the testimony of the Department of the Attorney General and other parties proposing amendments to this measure. Your Committee is concerned that these amendments are too sweeping, and instead encourages the Department of the Attorney General and other parties to continue to discuss these issues as this measure moves through the legislative process.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2035, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2345, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2345, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

________________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair