STAND. COM. REP. NO. 902

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1120
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
1120 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REPEAT OFFENDERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to provide for a twenty-five year time frame within which a prior
felony conviction would qualify as a prior felony for repeat
offender sentencing.

     Your Committee finds that repeat offenders are a significant
problem for law enforcement officials because they commit a
disproportionately high percentage of crimes and burden the
criminal justice system.  Your Committee further finds that if
these offenders commit subsequent felonies, the prior felonies
can be used for repeat offender sentencing only if the felonies
fall within a certain time-frame which varies depending on the
number of prior felony convictions and the class of the instant
felony.  Currently, a C felony qualifies as a prior felony
conviction for repeat offender sentencing only if the current
felony offense was committed within five years of the date of
conviction for the prior C felony.  The time frame is ten years
for a B felony and twenty years for an A felony.  

     However, your Committee feels that a twenty-five year shelf
life for all felonies may be too harsh in certain situations.
Therefore, your Committee agrees that a distinction between the
types of felonies involved -- class A, class B, or class C --

 
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needs to be preserved and consideration needs to be given to the
seriousness of the crime.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of the Attorney General, the Department of the
Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, the
Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui, the
Honolulu Police Department, and the Community Coalition for
Neighborhood Safety.  Testimony in opposition of this measure was
submitted by the Office of the Public Defender.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Deleting all references to a twenty-five year shelf
          life;

     (2)  Increasing the shelf life for a prior conviction of
          murder in the first degree, attempted murder in the
          first degree, murder in the second degree, attempted
          murder in the second degree, and a class A felony from
          twenty years to twenty-five years;

     (3)  Increasing the shelf life for a prior conviction where
          the prior conviction was for a class B felony from ten
          years to fifteen years;

     (4)  Increasing the shelf life for a prior conviction where
          the prior conviction was for a class C felony from five
          years to ten years; and 

     (5)  Making technical, non-substantive changes for the
          purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
1120, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1120, S.D. 1, and
be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.


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



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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