STAND. COM. REP. NO. 843

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 224

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 224 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IDENTIFICATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in collaboration with various agencies and upon request of the inmates, to assist inmates in obtaining the inmates' civil identification card, birth certificate, social security card, and other relevant identification necessary for successful reentry into society, as soon as practicable; and

(2) Require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to initiate the process of obtaining identifying 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 identifying documents to the inmate as soon as practicable.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, Community Alliance on Prisons, Waikiki Health, ACLU of Hawaiʻi, and two individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

Your Committees find that individuals transitioning from incarceration often encounter obstacles while trying to obtain necessary identification documents, which has often been cited as a contributing factor to recidivism. Your Committees further find that increasing collaboration between the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and departments that provide identification documents will aid individuals in accessing necessary resources. This measure will encourage the positive reintegration of justice-involved individuals by helping them access needed services at the most crucial time, prior to release from incarceration and reentry into the community.

Your Committees have amended this measure by requiring the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide assistance to inmates in obtaining identification cards and other identifying documents even if the Department fails to meet the timelines established by this measure.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 224, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 224, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair