HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

THE THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2026

 

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY

Rep. Della Au Belatti, Chair

Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto, Vice Chair

 

Rep. Mark J. Hashem

Rep. Justin H. Woodson

Rep. Linda Ichiyama

Rep. Garner M. Shimizu

Rep. Dee Morikawa

Rep. Kanani Souza

Rep. Mahina Poepoe

 

 

 

NOTICE OF HEARING

 

DATE:

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

TIME:

9:00 AM

PLACE:

VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE

Conference Room 411

State Capitol

415 South Beretania Street

 

 

 

Click here to submit testimony and to testify remotely or in person.

 

A live stream link of all House Standing Committee meetings will be available online

shortly before the scheduled start time.

 

Click here for the live stream of this meeting via YouTube.

 

 

 

A G E N D A

 

HB 1913

Status

RELATING TO VETERAN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.

Establishes within the Office of Veterans' Services a mental health coordinator position at the Daniel K. Akaka State Veterans Home.  Provides that the mental health coordinator is appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of, the Director of the Office of Veterans' Services.  Appropriates moneys.

 

PBS, HLT, FIN

HB 9

Status

DESIGNATING HAWAII AS A PURPLE HEART STATE.

Designates Hawaii as a Purple Heart State.

 

PBS, CAA

HB 1628

Status

RELATING TO COMPASSIONATE RELEASE.

Establishes a protocol for compassionate release for certain ill or seriously debilitated incarcerated persons.

 

PBS, JHA

HB 1517

Status

RELATING TO SENTENCING REVIEW.

Establishes a procedure for incarcerated individuals who have served at least ten years of their sentence to petition the court for a sentence reduction.  Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to report to the Legislature Hawaii Paroling Authority, and Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission.

 

PBS, JHA

HB 2044

Status

RELATING TO OFFENDER REENTRY.

Expands programming and training for the comprehensive offender reentry program under the department of corrections and rehabilitation to reduce the rate of recidivism and increase inmate marketability.  Appropriates funds.

 

PBS, FIN

HB 1769

Status

RELATING TO CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

Requires the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation to incrementally reduce the number of individuals incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional institutions.  Requires reports to the Legislature.

 

PBS, JHA

 

DECISION MAKING TO FOLLOW

 

Persons wishing to offer comments should submit testimony at least 24 hours prior to the hearing.  Testimony received after this time will be stamped late and left to the discretion of the chair to consider.  While every effort will be made to incorporate all testimony received, materials received on the day of the hearing or improperly identified or directed, may not be processed.

 

Testimony submitted will be placed on the legislative website.  This public posting of testimony on the website should be considered when including personal information in your testimony.

 

The chair may institute a per-testifier time limit.

 

Committees meeting in the morning must adjourn prior to the day's Floor Session.  Therefore, due to time constraints, not all testifiers may be provided an opportunity to offer verbal comments.  However, written submissions will be considered by the committee.

 

Please refrain from profanity or uncivil behavior.  Violations may result in ejection from the hearing without the ability to rejoin.

 

For remote testifiers, the House will not be responsible for bad connections on the testifier's end.

 

For general help navigating the committee hearing process, please contact the Public Access Room at (808) 587-0478 or par@capitol.hawaii.gov.

 

The livestream and/or cable TV broadcast of this meeting will include closed captioning.  If you need an auxiliary aid/service or other accommodation (including oral, written, or ASL interpretive services) or are unable to submit testimony via the website due to a disability, please contact the committee clerk at (808) 586-9425. Requests made as early as possible have a greater likelihood of being fulfilled.

 

Click here for a complete list of House Guidelines for remote testimony.

 

FOR AMENDED NOTICES:  Measures that have been deleted are stricken through and measures that have been added are bolded.

 

For more information, please contact the Committee Clerk at (808) 586-9425.

 

 

 

 

 

________________________________________

Rep. Della Au Belatti

Chair