STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3314

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2169

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 Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2169, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE COMPREHENSIVE OFFENDER REENTRY SYSTEM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that the Department of Public Safety's role is to work with the Department of Transportation and county examiners of drivers to assist inmates in procuring civil identification cards necessary to transition into the workforce, access social services, and secure housing, rather than issue civil identification cards.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender, Department of Public Safety, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, Community Alliance on Prisons, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Hawai‘i Friends of Restorative Justice, and nine individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawai‘i Correctional System Oversight Commission, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from Common Cause Hawaii and four individuals.

Your Committee finds that it is not uncommon for an identification card to be lost when an individual is arrested, either during the booking process or during the transition from cell block to the correctional facilities. In some instances, identification cards are recovered as evidence by law enforcement and never released back to the individual. For individuals serving longer sentences, their identification cards often lapse and expire. Your Committee further finds that identification cards are necessary to transition into the workforce, access social services, and secure housing. This measure will promote successful reentry of offenders by clarifying that the Department of Public Safety's role is to work with the Department of Transportation and county examiners of drivers to assist inmates in procuring civil identification cards necessary to transition into the workforce, access social services, and secure housing, rather than issue civil identification cards.

Your Committee notes that it is not the intent of this measure to restrict the voting rights of incarcerated individuals.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Removing language that would have placed the onus in procuring civil identification on soon-to-be released inmates;

(2) Requiring the Department of Public Safety to assist inmates in obtaining civil identification by providing the forms necessary for obtaining civil identification;

(3) Requiring any form provided by the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of assisting inmates in obtaining civil identification to be in the inmate's primary language; and

(4) 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 Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2169, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2169, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair