STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3660

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1548

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1548, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SENTENCING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Limit the maximum term of imprisonment for misdemeanors, or for offenses punishable by up to or not exceeding one year, to three hundred sixty-four days; and

(2) Allow individuals previously sentenced to a one-year term of imprisonment to apply to the court for a sentence modification to conform to the new limit.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Community Alliance on Prisons, Imua Alliance, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Kona Indivisible, Roots Reborn, ACLU Hawaiʻi, The Legal Clinic, and fourteen individuals.

Your Committee finds that under federal immigration law, a sentence of three hundred sixty-five days or more for certain misdemeanor offenses can result in the offense being classified as an "aggravated felony", making the defendant deportable or ineligible for relief, even when the underlying conduct is relatively minor. This measure adjusts the maximum misdemeanor sentences to three hundred sixty-four days to prevent low-level convictions from automatically triggering severe immigration penalties.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Excluding crimes of violence from the limit to the maximum term of imprisonment for misdemeanors, or for offenses punishable by up to or not exceeding one year, of three hundred sixty-four days;

(2) Specifying that individuals previously sentenced to a one-year term of imprisonment may apply to the court for a sentence modification to conform to the new limit only if they were sentenced for a crime that was not a crime of violence;

(3) Inserting a definition of "crime of violence";

(4) Inserting an effective date of March 22, 2075, to encourage further discussion; and

(5) 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 Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1548, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1548, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair