STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1645

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.C.R. No. 146

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 146, H.D. 2, entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO FORM A WORKING GROUP TO EXAMINE SMARTER SENTENCING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND RELIABILITY OF STATE CRIMINAL SENTENCING PRACTICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Request the Hawaii Paroling Authority to form a working group to examine smarter sentencing to improve the quality and reliability of state criminal sentencing practices; and

     (2)  Request the working group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Crime Victim Compensation Commission; Community Alliance on Prisons; Ho‘omana Pono, LLC; and four individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Paroling Authority.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Public Safety.

     Your Committee finds that the increasing number of individuals imprisoned has led to rising operating costs, community reliance on incarceration, and growing numbers of inmates prematurely released from prison each year.  Interdependency among participants in the judicial process needs to be recognized in working with each other and in the decision-making processes regarding offenders.  A working group to examine smarter sentencing, which enhances the decision making ability of criminal justice stakeholders in the selection and application of fair and efficient sanctioning goals, will improve the quality of the State's criminal sentencing practices.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requesting the Judiciary, rather than the Hawaii Paroling Authority, to convene a working group and include certain individuals in the working group;

     (2)  Amending the title accordingly; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 146, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor, in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 146, H.D. 2, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

________________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair