STAND. COM. REP. NO. 795

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 132

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 132 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EXPUNGEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend Act 62, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024, to expand the Department of the Attorney General pilot project for a state-initiated expungement process of arrest records concerning promoting a detrimental drug in the third degree to include the possession of any schedule V substance in any amount.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission; Office of the Public Defender; Community Alliance on Prisons; Aloha Green Apothecary; Last Prisoner Project; League of Women Voters of Hawaii; ACLU of Hawaiʻi; and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that expanding eligibility for expungement under the pilot project will provide greater relief for individuals arrested for possessing small amounts of schedule V substances. This will promote fairness, reduce the stigma associated with certain criminal records, and improve individuals' chances of reintegration into society.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Making additional conforming amendments to Act 62, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024, to include the possession of any schedule V substance in any amount under the pilot project; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 132, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 132, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair