Report Title:

Sentencing

Description:

Amends sentencing laws for drug offenders.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1977

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO SENTENCING FOR DRUGS AND INTOXICATING COMPOUNDS OFFENSES.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 706-622.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[§706-622.5] Sentencing for first-time drug offenders; expungement. (1) Notwithstanding any penalty or sentencing provision under part IV of chapter 712, a person convicted for the first time for any offense under part IV of chapter 712 involving possession or use, not including to distribute or manufacture as defined in section 712-1240, of any dangerous drug, detrimental drug, harmful drug, intoxicating compound, marijuana, or marijuana concentrate, as defined in section 712-1240, or involving possession or use of drug paraphernalia under section 329-43.5, or possession under section 712-1241(a), who is non-violent, as determined by the court after reviewing the:

(a) Criminal history of the defendant;

(b) Factual circumstances of the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced; and

(c) Other information deemed relevant by the court;

shall be sentenced in accordance with subsection (2);

provided that [the] this section shall not apply to a person that [does not have] has a conviction for any [violent] felony [for five years immediately] preceeding the date of the commission of the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced.

(2) A person eligible under subsection (1) shall be sentenced to probation to undergo and complete a drug treatment program. If the person fails to complete the drug treatment program and if no other suitable treatment is amenable to the offender, the person shall be returned to court and subject to sentencing under the applicable section under this part. [As a condition of probation under this subsection, the] The court shall require an assessment upon arrest as to the treatment needs of the defendant, conducted by a person certified by the department of health to conduct the assessments. The drug treatment program for the defendant shall be based upon the assessment. The court may require the person to contribute to the cost of the drug treatment program.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "drug treatment program" means drug or substance abuse services provided outside a correctional facility, but the services do not require the expenditure of state moneys beyond the limits of available appropriations.

(4) The court, upon written application from a person sentenced under this part, shall issue a court order to expunge the record of arrest for that particular conviction; provided that a person shall be eligible for one time only for expungement under this subsection.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to give rise to a cause of action against the State, state employee, or treatment provider."

SECTION 2. Section 353-66, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§353-66 Terms and conditions of parole; suspension and revocation. (a) Every parole granted under this part to any prisoner shall be subject to the express condition, to be set forth in the official written notification of parole to the prisoner, but to be binding upon the prisoner in any event, that all or any portion of the prisoner's credits earned or to be earned may be forfeited by order of the Hawaii paroling authority in the event that the prisoner breaks the prisoner's parole or violates any law of the State or rule of the paroling authority or any of the terms or conditions of the prisoner's parole.

(b) No parole shall be revoked and no credits forfeited without cause, which cause must be stated in the order revoking the parole, or forfeiting the credits after notice to the paroled prisoner of the paroled prisoner's alleged offense and an opportunity to be heard; provided that when a person is convicted in the State of a crime committed while on parole and is sentenced to imprisonment, or when it is shown by personal investigation that a parolee has left the State without permission from the paroling authority and due effort is made to reach the parolee by registered mail directed to the parolee's last known address, no hearing shall be required to revoke the parolee's parole; and provided further that when any duly licensed psychiatrist or licensed psychologist finds that continuance on parole will not be in the best interests of a parolee or the community, the paroling authority, within the limitations of the sentence imposed, shall order the detention and treatment of the prisoner until such time as the prisoner shall be found by any duly licensed psychiatrist or licensed psychologist to be eligible for continuance on parole.

(c) If any paroled prisoner leaves the State without permission from the paroling authority, or if the whereabouts of any paroled prisoner is not known to the paroling authority because of the neglect or failure of the prisoner to so inform it, the paroling authority may order the parole suspended pending apprehension. From and after the suspension of the parole of any paroled prisoner and until the paroled prisoner's return to custody, the paroled prisoner shall be deemed an escapee and a fugitive from justice, and no part of the time during which the paroled prisoner is an escapee and a fugitive from justice shall be part of the paroled prisoner's term.

(d) The paroling authority may at any time order the arrest and temporary return to custody of any paroled prisoner, as provided in section 353-65, for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not there is sufficient cause to warrant the paroled prisoner's reimprisonment or the revoking of the paroled prisoner's parole or other action provided for by this part.

(e) Any paroled prisoner retaken and reimprisoned as provided in this chapter shall be confined according to the paroled prisoner's sentence for that portion of the paroled prisoner's term remaining unserved at time of parole, but successive paroles may, in the discretion of the paroling authority, be granted to the prisoner during the life and in respect of the sentence.

(f) Parole shall not be revoked for a first violation of the terms and conditions of parole involving possession or use, not including to distribute or manufacture as defined in section 712-1240, of any dangerous drug, detrimental drug, harmful drug, intoxicating compound, marijuana, or marijuana concentrate, as defined in section 712-1240, or involving possession or use of drug paraphernalia under section 329-43.5, or possession under section 712-1241(a); provided that the person shall be required to undergo and complete a drug treatment program as a condition of continued parole. If the person fails to complete the drug treatment program and if no other suitable treatment is amenable to the offender, the person shall be subject to revocation of parole and return to incarceration. The Hawaii paroling authority may require the person to contribute to the cost of the drug treatment program.

As used in this subsection "drug treatment program" means drug or substance abuse services provided outside a correctional facility, but the services do not require the expenditure of state moneys beyond the limits of available appropriations.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to give rise to a cause of action against the State, state employee, or treatment provider."

SECTION 3. Section 706-625, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§706-625 Revocation, modification of probation conditions. (1) The court, on application of a probation officer, the prosecuting attorney, the defendant, or on its own motion, after a hearing, may revoke probation except as provided in subsection 7, reduce or enlarge the conditions of a sentence of probation, pursuant to the provisions applicable to the initial setting of the conditions and the provisions of section 706-627.

(2) The prosecuting attorney, the defendant's probation officer, and the defendant shall be notified by the movant in writing of the time, place, and date of any such hearing, and of the grounds upon which action under this section is proposed. The prosecuting attorney, the defendant's probation officer, and the defendant may appear in the hearing to oppose or support the application, and may submit evidence for the court's consideration. The defendant shall have the right to be represented by counsel. For purposes of this section the court shall not be bound by the Hawaii rules of evidence, except for the rules pertaining to privileges.

(3) The court shall revoke probation if the defendant has inexcusably failed to comply with a substantial requirement imposed as a condition of the order or has been convicted of a felony. The court may revoke the suspension of sentence or probation if the defendant has been convicted of another crime other than a felony.

(4) The court may modify the requirements imposed on the defendant or impose further requirements, if it finds that such action will assist the defendant in leading a law-abiding life.

(5) When the court revokes probation, it may impose on the defendant any sentence that might have been imposed originally for the crime of which the defendant was convicted.

(6) As used in this section, "conviction" means that a judgment has been pronounced upon the verdict.

(7) Probation shall not be revoked for a first violation of the terms and conditions of probation involving possession or use, not including to distribute or manufacture as defined in section 712-1240, of any dangerous drug, detrimental drug, harmful drug, intoxicating compound, marijuana, or marijuana concentrate, as defined in section 712-1240, or involving possession or use of drug paraphernalia under section 329-43.5 or possession under section 712-1241(a); provided that the person shall be required to undergo and complete a drug treatment program as a condition of continued probation. If the person fails to complete the drug treatment program and if no other suitable treatment is amenable to the offender, the person shall be subject to revocation of probation and return to incarceration. The court may require the person to contribute to the cost of the drug treatment program.

As used in this subsection, "drug treatment program" means drug or substance abuse services provided outside a correctional facility, but the services do not require the expenditure of state moneys beyond the limits of available appropriations.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to give rise to a cause of action against the State, state employee, or treatment provider."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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