STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2665

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2631

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2631 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ARREST PHOTOGRAPHS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit commercial website operators from publishing mugshots.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender and one individual.

Your Committee finds that booking or arrest photographs, also called mugshots, can be obtained from law enforcement websites and reposted on commercial websites. Arrests regularly occur without resulting in actual criminal charges, and the commercial consumption of mugshots can be harmful to one's reputation or compromise possible employment. Therefore, this measure will prohibit the publication of a person's mugshot on a commercial website for pecuniary gain, with certain exemptions for the purpose of disseminating information to the public, among others.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2631 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair