STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2099

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 622

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 S.B. No. 622 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RESTRAINING ORDER VIOLATIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require a court to sentence a person convicted of violating an injunction or restraining order or order of protection during the term of a stay-at-home order imposed by the State or a county in which the violation occurred to a mandatory minimum jail sentence of not less than thirty days and fined not less than $5,000.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from three individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic caused police, courts, and jails to reprioritize their use of personnel and resources. This can be emotionally and physically devastating for individuals with injunctions or temporary restraining orders who are harassed while a "stay-at-home" order is in place. In some cases, these individuals can become a hostage to their harasser with no real-time recourse. This situation essentially equates to an aggravated circumstance that warrants heightened penalties for violations. This measure creates a mandatory penalty to deter harassers from violating stay-at-home orders and to protect their victims.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that a violation of a temporary restraining order during a stay-at-home order carries a mandatory fine of no less than $500 and no more than $3,000;

(2) Clarifying that a violation of an order for protection, or injunction or restraining order during a stay-at-home order carries a mandatory fine of no less than $500 and no more than $3,000;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 30, 2075, to encourage further discussion; 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 Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 622, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 622, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair