Report Title:
Sex Offender Registration; Public Access
Description:
Creates "public access information" system on convicted sex offenders; clarifies public access to sex offender registration procedures to satisfy State v. Bani.
|
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2610 |
|
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002 |
||
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
||
|
|
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 846E-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§846E-3 Access to registration information. (a) Registration information shall be disclosed as follows:
(1) The information shall be disclosed to law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes;
(2) The information shall be disclosed to government agencies conducting confidential background checks;
(3) The attorney general and any county police department shall release [relevant information that is necessary to protect the public concerning a specific person required to register under this chapter;] to the general public, in the manner set forth in subsections (d) and (e) that portion of the registration information defined as public access information by subsection (b); provided that the sex offender is first given notice and an opportunity to be heard in a hearing pursuant to paragraph (4); provided further that the identity of a victim of an offense that requires registration under this chapter shall not be released[.];
(4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), prior to release of a sex offender’s public access information, the agency that prosecuted the sex offender, or the prosecutor for the county in which the sex offender resides, as applicable, shall initiate a special proceeding by filing a petition for an order permitting release of the sex offender’s public access information. The petition shall be filed in the circuit court for the circuit in which the sex offender’s offense occurred or, for those sex offenders whose offense did not occur within the jurisdiction of a Hawaii circuit court, in the circuit court for the circuit of the sex offender’s residence. An evidentiary hearing on the State’s petition shall be held within ninety days of the filing of the petition, unless the court issues written findings that court congestion or the interests of justice require a later hearing. The special proceeding shall be conducted in accordance with the Hawaii rules of civil procedure, except that the court shall not allow discovery beyond the production of expert witness reports and discovery already completed in the sex offender’s underlying criminal case if discovery materials from the underlying criminal case have been made available to the sex offender during the year preceding the filing of the petition. If the discovery materials from the underlying criminal case have not been made available to the sex offender during the year preceding the filing of the petition, the court may grant a motion by a party to permit additional discovery that is limited to requests for production of documents and requests for admissions, but shall not allow depositions or interrogatories. Either party may offer as evidence, under seal, a presentence report or bail study related to the underlying offense of the sex offender. The State shall have the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the sex offender has been convicted, or found unfit to proceed or acquitted due to a physical or mental disease, disorder, or defect pursuant to chapter 704, of a felony sexual offense. If the court finds the State has met this burden, there is a rebuttable presumption, that must be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, that public access to the sex offender’s public access information is necessary to protect society or another person. The circuit court shall order that the sex offender’s public access information be released unless it finds, by clear and convincing evidence, specified in written findings of fact, that public access to the sex offender’s public access information is not necessary to protect society or another person; and
(5) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the attorney general may release to the general public the public access information for any sex offender required to register under this chapter who fails to register or fails to comply with any other provision of this chapter, and may do so without the hearing to which the registered sex offender is entitled under paragraph (4). The attorney general may release this information by Internet publication, newspaper publication, public posting, or any other manner reasonably calculated to warn the general public of the sex offender’s failure to comply with this chapter; provided that no release of public access information shall take place if the sex offender has not been given notice of the requirements of this chapter.
(b) For purposes of this section, ["relevant information that is necessary to protect the public"] "public access information" means:
(1) Name and all aliases used by the sex offender or under which the sex offender has been known;
(2) The [street name and zip code] judicial district where the sex offender resides and how long the sex offender has resided there;
(3) The [street name and zip code] judicial district where the sex offender is staying for more than ten days, if other than the stated residence;
(4) The future [street name and zip code,] judicial district, if known, where the sex offender is planning to reside, if other than the stated residence;
(5) The [street name and zip code] judicial district of the sex offender's current locations of employment;
(6) The year, make, model, color, and license number of all vehicles currently owned or operated by the sex offender;
(7) A brief summary of the [criminal offenses against victims who were minors and the sexually violent] sexual offenses for which the sex offender has been convicted or found unfit to proceed or acquitted pursuant to chapter 704; and
(8) A recent photograph of the sex offender.
(c) [Relevant information that is necessary to protect the public] Public access information shall be collected for purposes of making it available to the general public[, and a sex offender shall have a diminished expectation of privacy in the information.]; provided that no public access information shall be made available to the general public unless public access is authorized by subsection (a); provided further that public access information shall not be made available to the general public in any case where a circuit court has made a written finding that, based upon clear and convincing evidence presented during the sex offender’s hearing under subsection (a)(4), public access to the sex offender’s public access information is not necessary to protect society or another person.
(d) The release of [relevant information that is necessary to protect the] public access information shall be accomplished by July 1, 2003, or earlier, by public access to [a file containing the relevant] public access information on each registered sex offender, a digital or other [a] copy of which shall be provided for inspection upon request at the Hawaii criminal justice data center and at one or more designated police stations in each county, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays excluding holidays. The chief of police and the attorney general shall provide the [relevant] public access information on sex offenders upon payment of reasonable fees[. Relevant] and shall also provide written notice to the person requesting the information that the information may be used for legal purposes only. Public access information on each registered sex offender may also be released from [an electronic database maintained by the respective law enforcement agencies] a registry that is accessible to users through an interactive computer-based system[.] accessible through a computer or terminal located at the Hawaii criminal justice data center and one or more police stations in each county, but not accessible through the Internet; provided that, as authorized by subsection (a)(5), public access information may be released to the general public through the Internet for any sex offender who fails to register or who fails to comply with any other provision of this chapter.
(e) When a sex offender’s public access information is available to the general public, except as excluded by subsection (f), the sex offender may petition the circuit court for an order to end the general public access to the sex offender’s public access information:
(1) Twenty years after the sex offender’s release from prison or parole, whichever is later, for those sex offenders whose sexual offense is a class A felony;
(2) Ten years after the sex offender’s release from prison, parole, or probation, whichever is later, for those sex offenders whose sexual offense is a class B felony; or
(3) Five years after the sex offender’s release from prison, parole, or probation, whichever is later, for those sex offenders whose sexual offense is a class C felony;
(f) The following sex offenders shall not be eligible to petition the circuit court for an order to end the general public access to the sex offender’s public access information:
(1) Sex offenders whose offense involved the death or serious bodily injury of another person;
(2) Sex offenders whose offense resulted in sentencing under the terms of section 706—606.5, 706-660.2, or 706-661;
(3) Sex offenders who have inexcusably failed to comply with terms and conditions of probation or parole;
(4) Sex offenders who have inexcusably failed to register as sex offenders or who are otherwise not in compliance with this chapter; and
(5) Sex offenders who have been convicted of any crime since the conviction requiring the sex offender’s registration.
(g) Upon the sex offender’s filing the petition in circuit court, the court may order the end to public access to the sex offender’s public access information, if, in written findings, the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that:
(1) Public access to the sex offender’s public access information is no longer necessary to protect society or another person;
(2) The sex offender has not been convicted of any crime since the conviction requiring the sex offender’s registration;
(3) The sex offender has complied with all terms and conditions of probation or parole;
(4) The sex offender has complied with all provisions of this chapter; and
(5) The sex offender is not a sex offender under subsection (f)."
SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2002.
|
INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |