STAND. COM. REP. NO. 31

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 486

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 486 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SAFETY OF JUDICIARY PERSONNEL,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit, in certain circumstances, the publication of the personal information of state and federal judges and other judicial staff whose duties put them at risk for acts of violence or threats.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary, Hawaii State Bar Association, State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that threats and inappropriate communications to judges and court personnel continue to escalate. At the state level, the number of threats and other inappropriate communications to Hawaii judges have increased tenfold in less than a decade, from two in 2012 to approximately twenty in both 2021 and 2022. Your Committee further finds that other judiciary staff have duties that put them at risk of threats or violence. These include social workers who monitor offenders placed on probation and judiciary staff who supervise probationers convicted of violent crimes. This measure will enhance the security of judges and judiciary personnel while not diminishing civil liberties or unduly hindering governmental operations.

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. 486 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair