STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2963

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2305

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2305 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that the comprehensive offender reentry system provides programs and services that result in the timely release of inmates on parole when the minimum term, rather than the maximum term, has been served by the inmate.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, and Community Alliance on Prisons. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committees find that prioritizing reentry planning and comprehensive treatment, education, and support services should start at the beginning of incarceration, not at the tail end of a person's incarceration. Given that nearly ninety-five percent of people incarcerated in state jails and prisons will eventually be released and return home, the State should invest in comprehensive reentry programs and services from day one of incarceration. This measure will promote public safety by clarifying that the comprehensive offender reentry system provides programs and services that result in the timely release of inmates on parole when the minimum term, rather than the maximum term, has been served by the inmate.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2305 and recommend that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair