STAND. COM. REP. NO. 839

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 955

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 955, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FITNESS TO PROCEED,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to reduce overcrowding in the State's hospitals and mental health facilities and to expedite certain criminal cases through the legal system by amending the requirements for fitness-to-proceed examinations.

More specifically, the measure:

(1) Clarifies the term of a defendant's commitment to a hospital or mental health facility for purposes of a fitness-to-proceed examination;

(2) Increases the compensation for, and clarifies the types of professionals who may serve as, a private examiner for a fitness-to-proceed examination;

(3) Reduces from three to one the number of qualified examiners required for a fitness-to-proceed examination in a felony case; and

(4) Reduces penalties to be commensurate with the underlying offense for a person charged with a nonviolent petty misdemeanor who escapes from the custody of the Director of Health while awaiting a fitness-to-proceed examination.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Health and two individuals.

Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the County of Maui, Hawaii Psychological Association, and two individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Judiciary and Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission.

Your Committee finds that experiencing a lengthy wait for a fitness-to-proceed examination can be damaging to a criminal defendant's mental health. Your Committee believes that improving the efficiency of fitness-to-proceed examinations will help expedite the process and reduce overcrowding in hospitals, mental health facilities, and jails.

Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting amendments recommended by the Department of Health, specifically:

(1) Requiring the court to hold status hearings for a committed defendant no less than once per week at the Hawaii State Hospital; and

(2) Inserting a sunset date of December 31, 2026, for the proposed amendments to subsection 704-404(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes, to allow for a later reevaluation of these amendments.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 955, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 955, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair