STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2875

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2631

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2631 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ARREST PHOTOGRAPHS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit commercial website operators from publishing mugshots; and

(2) Establish exemptions.

Your Committee received no testimony on this measure.

Your Committee finds that booking or arrest photographs, also known as mugshots, are publicly available on law enforcement websites and sometimes utilized for commercial purposes. However, the availability of mugshots for commercial consumption can be extremely harmful to one's reputation and compromises possible employment opportunities. As arrests regularly occur without resulting in actual criminal charges, widespread publication of booking or arrest photographs may be distressing for the individual depicted in the photograph. Therefore, this measure clarifies the usage of booking or arrest photographs to prohibit certain uses that may harm the individual depicted.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2631 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair