STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2305

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2162

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water and Land and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2162 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION AND RESOURCES ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Land and Natural Resources to pursue and obtain accreditation for the Conservation and Resources Enforcement Program from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo, and two individuals.

Your Committees find that the Conservation and Resources Enforcement Program of the Department of Land and Natural Resources requires proper training, equipment, and organizational support to succeed in preserving the public peace and safety. To this end, the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement of the Department of Land and Natural Resources established its own academy to better train law enforcement officers. Prior to 2021, the Conservation and Resources Enforcement Program was required to seek and obtain accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., in the use of electric guns, but Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, inadvertently repealed that requirement. This measure will enable the Conservation and Resources Enforcement Program to succeed in its mission by restoring this requirement.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Removing appropriation-related language as this measure does not require an appropriation;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2162, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2162, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair