REPORT TITLE:
Sex Offends; Confdn Records


DESCRIPTION:
Requires the sharing of all relevant criminal, medical,
psychological, or mental health records of sex offenders. (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           588
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO SEX OFFENDERS.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that there at least five
 
 2 agencies that deal with criminal sex offenders, including the
 
 3 departments of public safety, human services, health, the
 
 4 judiciary, and the Hawaii paroling authority.  These agencies
 
 5 should share treatment and psychiatric records of criminal sex
 
 6 offenders, because these individuals often enter several of these
 
 7 agencies for treatment, monitoring, and punishment.  Allowing
 
 8 agencies to share treatment and psychiatric records
 
 9 confidentially about these offenders helps the agency keep track
 
10 of an individual offender and provides a measure of extra safety
 
11 for the agency's employees, including social workers, parole
 
12 officers, and treatment providers, by letting employees know the
 
13 background of offender patients with whom they deal.  The public
 
14 is also protected when all agencies know a patient's past
 
15 behavioral history, as well as treatment history.  The purpose of
 
16 this Act is to include as an interagency requirement the sharing
 
17 of all relevant criminal, medical, psychological, or mental
 
18 health records of criminal offenders that would be considered
 
19 confidential.
 
20      SECTION 2.  Section 353E-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 

 
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 1 amended to read as follows:
 
 2      "[[]�353E-2[]]  Interagency coordination.(a)  To carry out
 
 3 their responsibilities under section 353E-1, the department of
 
 4 public safety, Hawaii paroling authority, judiciary, department
 
 5 of health, department of human services, and any other agency
 
 6 assigned sex offender oversight responsibilities by law or
 
 7 administrative order, shall establish, by an interagency
 
 8 cooperative agreement, a coordinating body to oversee the
 
 9 development and implementation of sex offender treatment programs
 
10 in the State to ensure compliance with the intent of the master
 
11 plan developed under section 353E-1(1).  The interagency
 
12 cooperative agreement shall set forth the role of the
 
13 coordinating body and the responsibilities of each agency that is
 
14 a party to the agreement.
 
15      (b)  The department of public safety shall be the lead
 
16 agency for the statewide sex offender treatment program.  As the
 
17 lead agency, the department shall act as facilitator of the
 
18 coordinating body by providing administrative support to the
 
19 coordinating body.
 
20      (c)  Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary,
 
21 any agency that is part of the interagency cooperative agreement
 
22 shall provide, upon the request of any other participating
 
23 agency, all relevant criminal, parole, medical, psychological, or
 

 
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 1 mental health records of any offender receiving supervision or
 
 2 treatment while under custody of the State for purposes of sex
 
 3 offender treatment and community supervision.  Records received
 
 4 by a participating agency under this section shall be
 
 5 confidential and shall be disclosed by the receiving agency only
 
 6 for the purposes and under the circumstances expressly authorized
 
 7 by this section."
 
 8      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 9 New statutory material is underscored.
 
10      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.