STAND. COM. REP. NO. 160-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2505

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 Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2505 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ASSISTED COMMUNITY TREATMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize community mental health outpatient programs that have agreed to provide mental health services to a defendant as part of an assisted community treatment order to prepare a certificate for the order and provide the certificate to the defendant; and

(2) Require that a petition for assisted community treatment be heard no later than five days after the petition is filed.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; The Institute for Human Services, Inc.; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary and one individual.

Your Committee finds that many individuals who have been diverted to the Hawaii State Hospital as part of the State's assisted community treatment process after being found to be unfit to proceed in a criminal proceeding fail to receive the necessary treatment needed to prevent them from reoffending after they are released. This failure is often the result of the lengthy petition process for assisted community treatment, coupled with a lack of available space at inpatient treatment facilities like the Hawaii State Hospital. This measure is intended to address the gap in treatment by clarifying that community mental health outpatient programs may file a petition for an assisted community treatment order, which will ensure individuals are able to receive the treatment they need while reducing the strain on inpatient treatment facilities.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language permitting a community mental health outpatient program to file an assisted community treatment petition with the Family Court;

(2) Deleting language requiring the family court to hear an assisted community treatment petition no later than five days after its filing; and

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2505, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2505, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair