STAND. COM. REP. NO. 695

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 189

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 189 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DOG BITES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to remove the requirement to prove that the dog has bitten on two separate occasions for dog bite victims to bring legal action against a dog's owner.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that dog bites are among the top reasons for emergency room visits, ranking higher than injuries occurring on motorcycles, to pedestrians, and from gunshots. Your Committee further finds that the current state law only allows a dog bite victim standing in district court if it can be proven to the court that the dog has bitten and injured on a prior separate occasion. However, your Committee notes that there is no systematic tracking system for dog bites in Hawai‘i and many of the incidences go unreported. This measure therefore allows for a legal right to action for dog bite victims without proof of a prior bite on a separate occasion.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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. 189, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 189, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair