LEGISLATURE 2003 STATUS REPORT
Crime

Here are many of the major bills under consideration at the Legislature. Listing which bills are passing and which are failing halfway through the legislative session is risky.

Failing bills can be revived, living bills can be rewritten, and key lawmakers can change their minds.

This listing of bills is an effort to show readers where issues appear to be headed. Public participation and lobbying can change the outcome of any issue listed here.

Racing penalties
(SB 85)

Authorizes the court to confiscate vehicles of drivers caught on a second offense of exceeding the speed limit by 30 mph. Would also allow the vehicle of the offender's parents to be forfeited when the offender is a minor.

Elder abuse
(SB 78 SD2)

Would authorize the state attorney general to seek civil penalties against caregivers who abuse or neglect a dependent person age 62 or older.

Insurance fraud
(HB 43 HD2)

Establishes immunity from civil liability for a person who reports insurance fraud, except in the case of malicious reporting or perjury. Also establishes civil penalties for insurance fraud.

Criminal history checks
(HB 925 HD3)

Requires the Department of Health to conduct criminal history record checks of operators and employees of skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, adult residential care homes, and assisted living facilities. Requires the Department of Human Services to conduct checks on service providers in adult care facilities serving frail, elderly, disabled, or dependent adults.

Correctional facilities
(HB 298 HD2)

Directs the executive branch to consider the undeveloped portion of the existing Halawa Correctional Facility as one of the possible sites for replacing the O'ahu Community Correctional Center.

Drug offenders
(HB 500 HD1)

Allows the family court, in its discretion, to commit a minor who sells or distributes drugs to a youth correctional facility for a mandatory period of time. Requires the minor, and the minor's parents, guardians, or legal custodians, to attend a substance abuse education and counseling program.

Hate crimes
(SB 616)

Expands Hawai'i's hate crime law to apply to a defendant who intentionally selects a victim or property of a person because of hostility toward the person's actual or perceived gender identity or expression.

Privacy violation
(SB 1107 SD1, HB 802 HD1)

Redefines the offense of disorderly conduct. Expands scope of violation of privacy to include recording or broadcasting a person's intimate area underneath clothing while in a public place, without that person's consent.

Restraining order
(SB 921 SD2)

Entitles employers to obtain temporary restraining orders to protect worksite.

Criminal trespass
(SB 831 SD1)

Amends the criminal trespass laws to prohibit persons from entering or remaining unlawfully on certain public or private property for a specified time, after a reasonable warning or request to leave the premises has been issued.

Traffic camera enforcement

Would have established a traffic-control signal monitoring system that would produce recorded images of motor vehicles entering an intersection against a red light.

Driving curfews

Requires all drivers younger than 18 to be accompanied by a licensed driver over 21 when driving between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., with exceptions.

Cruelty to animals

Creates new offenses of aggravated cruelty to animals, including cockfighting and possessing cockfighting equipment. The Senate passed SB 1581, but a similar bill was recommitted to the Judiciary Committee in the House.

Medical marijuana

Would have tightened the controls and regulations on the use of medical marijuana.

Child endangerment

Would have made leaving a child younger than nine alone in a car or with another child younger than 15 a criminal offense.