THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

109

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE JUDICIARY TO MONITOR THE COLLECTION OF CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION FEES.

 

WHEREAS, the Crime Victim Compensation Commission was established in 1967 to provide compensation to Hawaii’s victims of violent crime; and

WHEREAS, many victims experience financial hardship and cannot afford to pay for medical treatment, mental health treatment, or other services they need in order to recover from the harmful effects of violent crime, and therefore must seek compensation from the Crime Victim Compensation Commission; and

WHEREAS, victims and their surviving family members will be further traumatized if the Crime Victim Compensation Commission lacks sufficient funding to provide them with compensation for medical, mental health, funeral, and other expenses; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature, in Act 206, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, codified as section 351-62.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), established the mandatory crime victim compensation fee imposed by the court upon defendants, to enable the Crime Victim Compensation Commission to become fiscally self-sufficient and to eliminate the need for general fund appropriations; and

WHEREAS, section 351-62.6, HRS, requires judges to assess the mandatory crime victim compensation fee against every defendant with the ability to pay, who enters a deferred plea or who is convicted of a petty misdemeanor, misdemeanor, or felony; and

WHEREAS, prior to the enactment of section 351-62.6, HRS, criminal injuries compensation was financed solely from legislative appropriations; and

WHEREAS, Act 176, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, required the Crime Victim Compensation Commission to report to the 2002 Legislature on the fees collected by the courts and the amount deposited by the courts in fiscal year 2000-2001; and

WHEREAS, the maximum amount of mandatory fees that could have been collected by the courts during fiscal year 2001 was approximately $969,131.25; and

WHEREAS, the total amount of mandatory fees deposited by the courts in fiscal year 2001 was $650,562.75; and

WHEREAS, the Crime Victim Compensation Commission’s surveys of compensation fee assessments found that judges did not order defendants to pay the compensation fee in all eligible cases and that some judges were waiving the assessments without evidence of indigency or inability to pay; and

WHEREAS, the failure to order and collect the mandatory compensation fee in all eligible cases jeopardizes the legislative intent of Act 206, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, to eliminate the need for general fund appropriations to fund compensation for crime victims; and

WHEREAS, the Judiciary is in the best position to monitor whether judges are ordering the mandatory compensation fee; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Judiciary is requested to provide the Legislature with a report detailing the progress of the Judiciary in meeting the requirements of Act 206, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, including specific information regarding:

(1) Actual versus estimated compensation fee collections and the method of estimation;

(2) The number of eligible cases in which the fee was ordered;

(3) The number of eligible cases in which the fee was collected;

(4) The number of eligible cases in which the fee was waived; and

(5) In eligible cases in which the fee was waived, the criteria used for waiving the fee;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Judiciary is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, the Administrative Director of the Courts, and the Chairperson of the Crime Victim Compensation Commission.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Crime Victim Compensation; Fee Collection Report