STAND. COM. REP. NO.  598

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2023

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1344

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1344 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANGER MANAGEMENT,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to authorize certain criminal offenders to undergo anger management counseling in lieu of domestic violence intervention as part of their sentences.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence Action Center, Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center, and three individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary.

 

     Your Committee finds that many of the mandatory domestic violence classes defendants must participate in as part of their sentencing were designed for intimate partners and were not intended for family or household members who are not in an intimate relationship.  As such, these classes may not be appropriate for family conflicts that involve non-intimate partner relationships, such as those between parents and children, siblings, uncles and aunts and their nephews or nieces, or platonic housemates.  This measure is intended to allow service providers to provide more appropriate and targeted classes for defendants by authorizing certain defendants to complete anger management counseling, rather than domestic violence intervention counseling.

 

     Your Committee recognizes the hard work done by the Judiciary, Office of the Public Defender, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Parents and Children Together, and Child Family Services to collaboratively develop the language in this measure.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that a person who violates a temporary restraining order must undergo a mandatory assessment before being ordered to complete either a domestic violence intervention course or anger management counseling;

 

     (2)  Inserting language permitting the court to impose a sentence of anger management counseling in cases of domestic abuse protective orders;

 

     (3)  Clarifying that a person who is sentenced or granted a motion for deferral for certain situations regarding abuse of a family or household member must first complete an assessment at a domestic violence intervention program before completing either a domestic violence intervention course or anger management counseling;

 

     (4)  Changing the effective date to July 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1344, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1344, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair