STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1202

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 224

S.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 Public Safety, to which was referred S.B. No. 224, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IDENTIFICATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to:

(1) In collaboration with various agencies and upon request of the inmates, assist inmates in obtaining their civil identification card, birth certificate, social security card, and other relevant identification necessary for successful reentry into society, as soon as practicable, but no later than one year before the inmate's parole or release date; and

(2) Initiate the process of obtaining identification documents for inmates released to work furlough, extended furlough, or community placement programs, by providing the forms necessary for the inmate to obtain civil identification cards and other identification documents to the inmate as soon as practicable, but no later than ninety days before the inmate's release date.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi; Community Alliance on Prisons; Opportunity for Youth Action Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Friends of Restorative Justice; and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Waikiki Health.

Your Committee finds that for inmates to have a successful reentry into society it becomes essential for them to possess upon release certain basic documents. This measure is just one mechanism to help individuals leaving the correctional system to reintegrate into society as smoothly as possible.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 224, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair