STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1481

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: S.B. No. 1260

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1260, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PRETRIAL REFORM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Eliminate the use of monetary bail and require defendants to be released on their own recognizance for traffic offenses, violations, and nonviolent petty misdemeanor and misdemeanor offenses, with certain exemptions; and

(2) Create a rebuttable presumption regarding release and detention for certain offenses and specify circumstances in which these presumptions apply.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawai‘i Correctional System Oversight Commission, Office of the Public Defender, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Kaua‘i, Common Cause Hawaii, Young Progressives Demanding Action, Hawai‘i Friends of Restorative Justice, Imua Alliance, Community Alliance on Prisons, Americans for Democratic Action, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, R Street Institute, Hawai‘i Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui, and Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Disability Rights Center, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i, and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii's bail system is overwhelmed, inefficient, and ineffective, and continues to result in harmful, unnecessary socioeconomic impacts on low-income individuals and their families, a disproportionate number of whom may be Native Hawaiian. This measure seeks to reduce unnecessary pretrial incarceration and its cost to taxpayers and the community while maintaining public safety.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending its purpose section;

(2) Amending the eligibility requirements for non-monetary bail;

(3) Amending the conditions under which a court may set bail for nonviolent offenders;

(4) Deleting language that would create a rebuttable presumption regarding release and detention for certain offenses and specify circumstances in which these presumptions apply;

(5) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3021, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1260, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1260, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair