STAND. COM. REP. NO. 259

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 192

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 192 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BAIL,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize a defendant in custody to petition a court for unsecured bail.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Office of the Public Defender, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, IMUAlliance, Community Alliance on Prisons, Hawaii Friends of Civil Rights, Americans for Democratic Action, Young Progressives Demanding Action, Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action, Ho‘omanapono Political Action Committee, O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Democratic Socialists of Honolulu, Hawai‘i Innocence Project, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, and thirty-one individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Judiciary.

Your Committee finds that the cash-secured bail system unjustly disadvantages low-income individuals and their families. Your Committee further finds that individuals without the financial resources to pay the necessary amount of bail can be detained for weeks, months, or longer, and can additionally face the loss of employment, housing, or custody of children. This measure allows the court to release a defendant from detention upon execution of an unsecured financial bond in situations in which the court determines that such a release is appropriate.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring that the court to take appropriate steps to collect the amount of an unsecured financial bond in the event that a defendant fails to appear in court or breaches any other condition of release; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment 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. 192, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 192, 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,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair