STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3801

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1628

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1628, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COMPASSIONATE RELEASE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a protocol for compassionate release for certain ill or seriously debilitated incarcerated persons; and

(2) Appropriate funds.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, ACLU Hawaiʻi, Aloha Independent Living Hawaii, and one individual.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Hawaii Paroling Authority, Crime Victim Compensation Commission, and Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, Community Alliance on Prisons, Ohana Hoʻopakele, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, FAMM, and three individuals.

Your Committees find that many elderly, seriously ill, and dying individuals pose little threat to public safety, yet remain incarcerated. These incarcerated individuals are often held under conditions that are medically complex, emotionally painful, and inhumane. This measure will allow these individuals to spend their final months with family, preserving dignity at the end of life while ensuring careful review standards, eligibility requirements, and public safety.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1628, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair