STAND. COM. REP. NO. 583

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 225

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 225, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the offense of habitually operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant to include operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant after at least one conviction within the previous ten years for habitually operating a motor vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, County of Hawaii; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, County of Maui; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, County of Kauai; and Hawaii Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

     Your Committee finds that under existing law, a prior felony conviction for habitually operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant (HOVUII) under section 291E-61.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is treated the same as a prior petty misdemeanor conviction for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant (OVUII) under section 291E-61, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for the purposes of triggering a subsequent HOVUII charge.  As a result, a loophole exists when an individual committing the offense of OVUII after being convicted of the offense of HOVUII, within ten years of the current offense, may not have the same status as a habitual operator of a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant unless there were at least two more convictions of HOVUII, OVUII, or a combination of both within the applicable ten year period.  Accordingly, this measure assists in the appropriate enforcement and oversight of these offenses and ensures that the definition of "habitual operator of a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant" accurately reflects the intent of the law.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 225, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair