Bill Text: HI SB2706 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii Senate Bill 2706

Bill Title: Relating To Expungement Of Criminal Records.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Enrolled) 2024-04-22 - Received notice of reconsideration, Senate agreement, and Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 731). [SB2706 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2706-Amended.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2706
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO EXPUNGEMENT OF CRIMINAL RECORDS.

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that approximately seventy-seven million people living in the United States, or one in three adults, have a criminal record. In some instances, the person was arrested but ultimately not convicted of any crime. The legislature recognizes that arrest and conviction records often adversely affect a person's financial and housing security by limiting the person's access to employment, housing, or a professional license. As of 2019, three hundred thousand residents of the State have been adversely affected by past criminal records, hindering their ability to fully participate in society, access employment, housing, and other opportunities.

The legislature notes that by being more easily available to attain employment and housing, individuals with cleared records are significantly less likely to reoffend, contributing to safer communities and reducing recidivism rates.

The legislature also finds that many states, including Hawaiʻi, have laws that allow persons who meet certain eligibility criteria to petition or apply for the removal of a criminal record. This current process is administratively cumbersome and creates an unnecessary burden on the criminal legal system, whereby resources are inefficiently allocated to administer and review these petitions. Furthermore, the citizens engaged in this process must face an additional burden before being able to clear their records.

The legislature further finds that making the procedure automatic would eliminate the need for an eligible person to navigate this process and pay any required processing fees. According to research compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, twenty states have at least one statutory automatic record-clearing provision as of July 2021. Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah are examples of states having laws that automate the record-clearing process; these laws are sometimes known as "clean slate laws". As of 2024, twelve states are already engaging in state-initiated record clearing processes.

The legislature finds that these states, through implementing some type of clean slate laws, have increased access to opportunities for their citizens, removed barriers to reintegration that disproportionately impact marginalized communities, increased public safety, and streamlined legal processes.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish the clean slate expungement task force to develop a state-initiated record clearing program.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established the clean slate expungement task force to develop a state-initiated record clearing program. The clean slate expungement task force shall be attached to the judiciary for administrative purposes only.

(b) The task force shall develop legislation for a record clearing program that:

(1) Expands access to employment, education, and other necessities required for successful reintegration as a successful member of society;

(2) Promotes equity and fairness by removing barriers within the criminal legal system that disproportionately impact marginalized communities;

(3) Enhances public safety by adopting best practices for clearing records that have been linked to a reduction in recidivism; and

(4) Streamlines legal processes to free up time and resources that can be better spent on more important efforts to ensure public safety.

(1) The attorney general;

(2) The chief justice;

(3) The public defender;

(4) The prosecutors of the county of Hawaiʻi, county of Maui, city and county of Honolulu, and county of Kauaʻi;

(5) The chief executive officer of the office of Hawaiian affairs;

(6) The administrator of the Hawaii criminal justice data center;

(7) The director of the criminal justice research institute;

(8) The executive director of the Hawaii Workers Center;

(9) The executive director of the ACLU of Hawaiʻi;

(10) The chairperson of Hawaiʻi Friends of Restorative Justice;

(11) The director of the Beyond Guilt Clinic and Hawaiʻi Innocence Project at the William S. Richardson School of Law; and

(12) The director of the Last Prisoner Project.

(d) The task force shall seek technical assistance from:

(1) The Clean State Initiative; and

(2) Code for America.

(e) The task force shall submit an interim report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than forty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2025. The task force shall submit a final report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than forty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2026.

(f) The task force shall be dissolved on February 1, 2026.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Clean Slate Expungement Task Force; Criminal Records; Conviction; Automatic Expungement; Reports

Description:

Establishes the Clean Slate Expungement Task Force to develop a state-initiated record clearing program. Requires the Task Force to submit reports to the Legislature. (SD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.