STAND. COM. REP. NO. 903-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2279

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2279 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EXPUNGEMENT ORDERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the expungement orders law to clarify that a person who is arrested for or charged with a crime but convicted of a violation is eligible for expungement of their arrest record for that incident.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Office of the Public Defender; Community Alliance on Prisons; ACLU of Hawaiʻi; Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiʻi; and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that arrest records may create lasting barriers to housing, employment, and other opportunities, even when an individual is ultimately not convicted of a crime. Your Committee further finds that clarifying eligibility for expungement when an arrest or charge results in a conviction for a violation – which is not a crime under Hawaii law – promotes fairness, aligns statutory language with existing case law, and ensures that arrest records do not impose unnecessary collateral consequences.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2279, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2279, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair