Report Title:

DOH Notice to Crime Victims

Description:

Requires the director of health to notify victims of the status of defendants and perpetrators committed to the custody of the director of health.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

973

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO RIGHTS OF VICTIMS.

 

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 801D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§801D- Department of health notice to victims. (a) Within     days after a defendant or perpetrator has been committed to the custody of the director of health under chapter 704, the director shall notify victims and surviving immediate family members of the following information, provided they have requested the information in writing:

(1) The name and location of the institution where the defendant or perpetrator is being detained and any subsequent institutions, except for temporary transfers of not more than twenty days;

(2) The timely notice of any motions, applications, hearings, or court orders, within the knowledge of the department of health, regarding:

(A) The fitness of the defendant or perpetrator to proceed or resume the penal proceedings; and

(B) The discharge, release, or conditional release of the defendant or perpetrator; and

(3) Any unauthorized absence, including escape, by the defendant or perpetrator from the institution, including any temporary institutions.

(b) Notice by the director of health as required by this section to the victims or surviving immediate family members shall be timely and, in the case of an unauthorized absence, by the most expedient means, including telephonic communication, to the victims or surviving immediate family member.

(c) Victims and surviving immediate family members may inform the director in writing to cease providing the notice required in subsection (a)."

SECTION 2. Section 801D-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Each county is responsible for the enforcement of rights under [section] sections 801D-4[.] and 801D-   . The courts shall fashion all decisions and orders to enhance the recognition of these rights and the provision of these services, to the extent that they will not conflict with the constitutional rights of the defendant."

SECTION 3. Section 801D-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§801D-6[]] Intergovernmental cooperation. The county prosecutor, the police, the department of health, local social service agencies, the courts, and all other agencies involved in the criminal justice system shall all cooperate with each other to ensure that victims and witnesses of crime receive the rights and services to which they are entitled under this chapter."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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