STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2379

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2947

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, Water and Land, and Transportation and Energy, to which was referred S.B. No. 2947 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require police departments and certain state agencies to disclose to the Legislature the identity of a law enforcement officer upon the officer's second suspension in a five-year period or discharge; and

(2) Require disclosure under the Uniform Information Practices Act of certain information, including identity, of a law enforcement officer after the officer's second suspension in a five-year period.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu and one individual. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Information Practices, The Civil Beat Law Center the Public Interest, ACLU of Hawai‘i, and League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

Your Committees find that disclosing the identities of law enforcement officers who are suspended twice within a five-year period serves the public interest. Transparency and accountability of law enforcement officers are of great importance in maintaining the public's confidence in law enforcement, and a healthy relationship between law enforcement agencies and the public is essential for maintaining the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

However, your Committees recognize the concerns raised in testimony about the potential unintended consequences of this measure. Your Committees agree with the testimony presented that adding state law enforcement officers into the class of government employees whose suspensions are not automatically made public under the Uniform Information Practices Act would actually decrease transparency and accountability.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Removing state law enforcement officers from the proposed class of government employees whose suspensions are not automatically made public under the Uniform Information Practices Act, chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, Water and Land, and Transportation and Energy that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2947, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2947, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, Water and Land, and Transportation and Energy,

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair	________________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair
	________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair