STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3303

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1456

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1456, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THEFT IN THE SECOND DEGREE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the offense of theft in the second degree to include theft of an electric gun regardless of its monetary value.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Police Department. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender.

Your Committee finds that electric guns can cause severe pain and completely incapacitate a person and may be used to facilitate a multitude of crimes, including but not limited to robberies, assaults, sexual assaults, human trafficking, and domestic abuse. Your Committee believes that specifying that the theft of an electric gun, regardless of its value, is a higher degree of theft may have a long-term deterrent effect. Therefore, this measure will be a deterrence to potential criminals and create a safer environment for the community by amending the offense of theft in the second degree to include theft of an electric gun regardless of its monetary value.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of August 1, 2022; 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 H.B. No. 1456, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1456, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair