Under the latest version passed by the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, violent and repeat sex offenders would be able to appeal the requirement to register their names and other information 40 years after their release from prison.

Those found guilty of an aggravated sex offense would also have a chance after 40 years for a hearing to end the need to enter personal information, such as their names and home addresses, in the sex offender registry.

All three classifications of offenders would have been required to register for life under the original draft of the bill pushed by Lingle's administration.

The current draft of the measure is the result of discussions between state authorities, local authorities and legislators.

"I think that real progress has been made ... I think that everyone — our office, (Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle's) office, the (Honolulu Police Department), House leadership — is working toward trying to find a bill that protects Hawaii's citizens and its children," said State Attorney General Mark Bennett.

But there are still some issues that need to worked out, said Bennett and House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Sylvia Luke.

At issue is a potential conflict between a federal law and a ruling by Hawai'i's Supreme Court.

Federal law mandates that sexually violent predators, repeat offenders and aggravated sex offenders should never be removed from the registry, while an August 2004 ruling by Hawaii's Supreme Court said every offender has the right to a hearing to challenge being placed on the registry.

Bennett said he feels the initial draft of the bill was in compliance with the state high court ruling. However, the committee didn't agree, and revised the requirements for the offenders in question.

Not complying with the federal law can mean losing some federal funding.

While the bill as written may not be in line with federal law, "given the choice of losing $300,000 or complying with our Supreme Court, I think we are left with little choice but to comply with our Supreme Court's decision," said committee Vice Chairman Blake Oshiro, D-33rd (Aiea-Halawa).

Luke, D-26th (Pacific Heights-Punchbowl), praised Bennett for making the issue a priority and compromising on some of his initial positions.

"What we're passing out is a balanced bill. And we're very happy. It's not there yet. We still have some work to do," Luke said.