STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1143-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2288

H.D. 2

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. 2288, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PAROLE ELIGIBILITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to expand the types of programs in which a committed person may participate to be eligible for parole by including treatment programs, work furlough, and other reintegration-focused programs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; State Council on Mental Health; Hawaii Paroling Authority; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Community Alliance on Prisons; and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission.

Your Committee finds that participation in treatment, work furlough, and reintegration focused programs equips committed persons with essential tools for stability, including behavioral health support, employment readiness, and opportunities for gradual resocialization before release from incarceration. Your Committee further finds that expanding eligible programs aligns with Hawaii's for rehabilitating incarcerated persons and helps address criminogenic needs identified through risk and needs assessments. This measure will promote fairer, more effective pathways to rehabilitation and safer reintegration into the community.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the Hawaii Paroling Authority to waive program requirements and not deny parole in situations where recommended programming is available and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation fails to move an individual; and

(2) 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. 2288, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2288, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair