STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3304

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2654

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2654, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VICTIM RESTITUTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify the authority of the Director of Public Safety to deduct, as victim restitution, twenty-five per cent of all moneys earned, new deposits, and credits to an inmate's individual account for restitution.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the State Crime Victim Compensation Commission, the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Hawaii, and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Kauai.  Written comments in opposition to this measure were received from the Department of Public Safety and the Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committee finds that studies have shown that when a defendant is held fully accountable to their crime victims by requiring payment of restitution, the recidivism rate is lower than for those defendants who are not held fully accountable.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Deleting the amendment to section 353-22.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which would have retroactively applied the restitution formula;

(2)  Placing the duty to impose the percentage amount of required victim restitution directly upon the court rather than on the Department of Public Safety;

(3)  Clarifying that this measure shall apply prospectively; and

(4)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, style, and consistency.

     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 H.B. No. 2654, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2654, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair