Bill Text: HI HCR154 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of The Attorney General To Collect And Publish Certain Criminal Case Data From All County Prosecuting Attorney Agencies That Receive State Funds.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-11 - Referred to JUD, FIN, referral sheet 40 [HCR154 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2020-HCR154-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

154

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO COLLECT AND PUBLISH CERTAIN CRIMINAL CASE DATA FROM ALL COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY AGENCIES THAT RECEIVE STATE FUNDS.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, county prosecuting attorneys are the most powerful actors in the criminal justice system, as they essentially have the unilateral authority to determine whether accused persons will face prosecution, and the criminal charges for which accused persons are prosecuted; and

 

     WHEREAS, county prosecuting attorneys also make influential recommendations to the courts regarding pretrial detention, bail, sentencing, and other matters regarding accused persons; and

 

     WHEREAS, county prosecuting attorneys' decisions affect accused persons' criminal records, the contents of which can lead to significant collateral consequences for the accused; and

 

     WHEREAS, county prosecuting attorneys' decisions also have a lasting impact on victims, families, communities, and the State's economy; and

 

     WHEREAS, basic information and data about criminal cases, while publicly available to some extent, are exceedingly difficult to obtain from the county prosecuting agencies, and are not always easy to understand; and

 

     WHEREAS, all individuals, including the voters who determine which prosecutors hold elective office and the taxpayers who fund prosecuting attorney agencies, deserve unfettered, comprehensible access to any prosecuting attorney agency information that is not otherwise protected from disclosure by law; and

     WHEREAS, county prosecuting attorney agencies that receive taxpayer funding through the Legislature are subject to legislative oversight; and

 

     WHEREAS, county prosecuting attorney agencies operate under the authority of the Attorney General; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of the Attorney General can serve the public by obtaining and publishing criminal case data from the county prosecuting agencies; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of the Attorney General's release of relevant criminal case data would:

 

     (1)  Educate voters and the general public;

 

     (2)  Help the State, counties, and public identify the causes of mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system;

 

     (3)  Improve accountability for agencies that violate the law or individuals' rights;

 

     (4)  Produce more equitable outcomes in individual criminal cases;

 

     (5)  Help criminal defendants and their attorneys make more informed decisions during plea deal negotiations;

 

     (6)  Hasten improvements in county prosecuting agencies, including management efficiencies and cost savings; and

 

     (7)  Deter corruption and unwarranted secrecy in law enforcement, which, when not deterred, can destroy public trust in government; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the Senate concurring, that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to collect and publish certain criminal case data from all county prosecuting attorney agencies that receive state funds; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to include, at a minimum, data from each case on which prosecution for a penal offense has commenced after December 31, 2020:

 

     (1)  The defendant's race;

 

     (2)  The defendant's gender;

 

     (3)  The defendant's self-reported disabilities, if any, including mental, psychiatric, developmental, and intellectual disabilities; physical and mobility disabilities; and sensory, vision, and hearing disabilities;

 

     (4)  The district or neighborhood in which the defendant was arrested;

 

     (5)  The charges for which the defendant was arrested;

 

     (6)  The charges for which the defendant is being prosecuted by the county prosecuting agency, and any amendments to those charges;

 

     (7)  The minimum and maximum penalties under law for each charge for which the defendant is being prosecuted by the county prosecuting agency;

 

     (8)  An indication of whether the defendant was offered entry into a jail diversion program;

 

     (9)  The prosecuting attorney's recommendations regarding bail or bond, including release conditions;

 

    (10)  The date range over which the defendant was in pretrial detention;

 

    (11)  The following information regarding any plea deal offer:

          (A)  The charges for which the prosecuting attorney asked the defendant to plead "guilty" or "no contest";

 

          (B)  Any charges the prosecuting attorney offered to dismiss;

 

          (C)  The penalties the prosecuting attorney offered to recommend in exchange for the defendant's acceptance of the plea deal;

 

          (D)  Whether the defendant accepted the plea deal offer;

 

          (E)  Whether the court approved the terms of the plea deal, either in whole or in part; and

 

          (F)  Any other information to assist the public's understanding of plea deal negotiations; and

 

    (12)  The penalties imposed, if any; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to compile and publish on its website, in January of each year, data compiled from all preceding calendar years; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to remove the case number and all personal identifying information from each published case and assign each published case a unique identifier; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if any county prosecuting attorney agency that falls within the scope of this Concurrent Resolution does not disclose the requested data, the Department of the Attorney General is requested to disclose that fact on its website in the same location where disclosed data is published and to notify the Legislature of the county prosecuting attorney agency's non-disclosure; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Attorney General and prosecuting attorneys of the several counties.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Attorney General; Prosecuting Attorney; Crimes; Cases; Data

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