STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1140

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1440

       H.D. 3

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred H.B. No. 1440, H.D. 3, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to clarify the jurisdictional authority of the Office of the Ombudsman when investigating the contractual acts of any correctional facility with which the Department of Public Safety has contracted to hold individuals committed to the custody of the Director of Public Safety.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the American Civil Liberties Union, Community Alliance on Prisons, Mestizo Association, and ten individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Public Safety.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of the Ombudsman. 

     Your Committee finds that it is vital for inmates of Hawaii currently held in mainland correctional institutions have access to an independent body in order to investigate contractual claims.  Your Committee further finds that this measure serves as an important mechanism to clarify and broaden the Ombudsman's scope of authority and ensures that inmates from Hawaii are not left without essential tools to address grievances with mainland correctional institutions.  Your Committee has left the appropriation amount in this measure unspecified for further discussion in the next Committee.  It is the intent of your Committee to extend the scope of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction to mainland facilities in order to preserve and protect the health, safety, and the legal rights of Hawaii's inmates.

     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 H.B. No. 1440, H.D. 3, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair