Bill Text: HI SB1331 | 2015 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Pretrial Risk Assessment; Pretrial Release; Bail
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-03-19 - The committee(s) on PBS recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [SB1331 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2015-SB1331-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1331 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. In 2012, as part of Hawaii's justice reinvestment efforts, the legislature found that the State's pretrial population had increased due to longer lengths of stay. The legislature attempted to address the issue by requiring that an objective assessment be conducted within the first three working days of a person's commitment to a community correctional center to allow the courts to quickly exercise discretion in determining whether to release a pretrial offender.
To accomplish this mandate, Hawaii's intake services center selected the Ohio Risk Assessment Survey-Pretrial Assessment Tool, which involves a brief face-to-face interview with the defendant. The assessment tool consists of seven risk variables in criminal history, employment and residential stability, and drug use, and categorizes detainees into groups based on their likelihood of reoffending or failing to appear in court during the pretrial period.
The Ohio Risk Assessment Survey-Pretrial Assessment Tool was recently validated in Hawaii, and the researcher concluded that the tool can be used in Hawaii to safely and predictably allocate detention and pretrial resources based on assessed level of risk. The risk assessment data is just one piece of information that intake services center staff provide in the bail report, which is delivered to the court within five days of an individual's admission to jail.
The legislature finds that despite the advancement in pretrial assessment since 2012, pretrial lengths of stay for those who are ultimately released before trial have remained very long and even increased, averaging almost seventy days. Pretrial length of stay in Hawaii remains about four times as long as the national average. Reentry intake service centers have addressed their mandate to conduct more timely assessments, but this alone has not produced more timely processing of cases or affected release decisions. The result, incarcerating defendants before they are ultimately released on bail, recognizance, or supervision, and before they plead or are found guilty, is costly for the State.
Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to require timely processing and quality information for appropriate pretrial release decisions.
SECTION 2. Section 353-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) The centers shall:
(1) Provide orientation, guidance, and technical services;
(2) Provide social-medical-psychiatric-psychological diagnostic evaluation;
(3) Conduct [internal] pretrial risk
assessments on adult [offenders] defendants within [three]
working days of [admission to a
community correctional center] arrest, which shall then be provided
to the court for its consideration[;] and to those who may receive a
pretrial bail report under paragraph (9); provided that this paragraph
shall not apply to persons subject to county or state detainers, holds, or
persons detained without bail, persons detained for probation violation,
persons facing revocation of bail or supervised release, and persons who have
had a pretrial risk assessment completed prior to admission to a community
correctional center. For purposes of this [[]paragraph[]],
"pretrial risk assessment" means an objective, research-based,
validated assessment tool that measures a defendant's risk of flight and risk
of criminal conduct while on pretrial release pending adjudication; provided
that the pretrial risk assessment shall be confidential and shall not be deemed
to be a public record;
(4) Provide correctional prescription program planning and security classification;
(5) Provide other personal and correctional services as needed for both detained and committed persons;
(6) Monitor and record the progress of persons assigned to correctional facilities who undergo further treatment or who participate in prescribed correctional programs;
(7) Provide
continuing supervision and control of persons ordered to be placed on pretrial
supervision by the court and persons ordered by the director; [and]
(8) Interview prospective lay sponsors within working days of their identification, by scheduling interviews during evening and weekend hours; and
[(8)] (9) Provide
pretrial bail reports to the courts on adult [offenders that are consented
to by the defendant or that are ordered by the court.] defendants who
are eligible for release under sections 804-3 and 804-4, within
working days of arrest. Any recommendation for financial bail shall comply
with section 804-9, and any recommendation shall link assessments of the risk
of flight and of public safety to appropriate release options designed to
respond to the specific risk and supervision needs identified. The
pretrial bail reports shall be confidential and shall not be deemed to be
public records. A copy of a pretrial bail report shall be provided only:
(A) To the defendant or defendant's counsel;
(B) To the prosecuting attorney;
(C) To the department of public safety;
(D) To any psychiatrist, psychologist, or other treatment practitioner who is treating the defendant pursuant to a court order;
(E) Upon request, to the adult client services branch; and
(F) In accordance with applicable laws, persons, or entities doing research."
SECTION 3. Section 804-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) If the charge is
for an offense for which bail is allowable under section 804-3, the defendant
may be admitted to bail before conviction as a matter of right[.] and,
without unnecessary delay, an arraignment conducted no more than
days after arrest. Except for section 712-1207(7), bail shall be allowed
for any person charged under section 712-1207 only subject to the mandatory
condition that the person observe geographic restrictions that prohibit the
defendant from entering or remaining on public property, in Waikiki and other
areas in the State designated by county ordinance during the hours from 6 p.m.
to 6 a.m.; and provided further that nothing contained in this subsection shall
be construed as prohibiting the imposition of stricter geographic restrictions
under section 804-7.1. The right to bail shall continue after conviction of a
misdemeanor, petty misdemeanor, or violation, and release on bail may continue,
in the discretion of the court, after conviction of a felony until the final
determination of any motion for a new trial, appeal, habeas corpus, or other
proceedings that are made, taken, issued, or allowed for the purpose of
securing a review of the rulings, verdict, judgment, sentence, or other
proceedings of any court or jury in or by which the defendant has been
arraigned, tried, convicted, or sentenced; provided that:
(1) No bail shall be allowed after conviction and prior to sentencing in cases where bail was not available under section 804-3, or where bail was denied or revoked before conviction;
(2) No bail shall be allowed pending appeal of a felony conviction where a sentence of imprisonment has been imposed; and
(3) No bail shall be allowed pending appeal of a conviction for a violation of section 712-1207, unless the court finds, based on the defendant's record, that the defendant may be admitted to bail subject to the mandatory condition that the person observe geographic restrictions that prohibit the defendant from entering or walking along the public streets or sidewalks of Waikiki or other areas in the State designated by county ordinance pursuant to section 712-1207 during the hours from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person who violates these bail restrictions shall have the person's bail revoked after hearing and shall be imprisoned forthwith."
SECTION 4. Section 804-7.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§804-7.1 Conditions of release on bail, recognizance, or supervised release. (a) Upon a showing that there exists a danger that the defendant will commit a serious crime or will seek to intimidate witnesses, or will otherwise unlawfully interfere with the orderly administration of justice, the judicial officer named in section 804-5 may deny the defendant's release on bail, recognizance, or supervised release. A pretrial risk assessment score that reflects high risk of flight or commission of a new criminal offense shall be sufficient to satisfy this showing. Absent such a score, the judicial officer shall not deny the defendant's release on bail, recognizance, or supervised release.
(b)
Upon the defendant's release on bail, recognizance, or supervised release, [however,]
the court may enter an order:
(1) Prohibiting the defendant from approaching or communicating with particular persons or classes of persons, except that no such order should be deemed to prohibit any lawful and ethical activity of defendant's counsel;
(2) Prohibiting the defendant from going to certain described geographical areas or premises;
(3) Prohibiting the defendant from possessing any dangerous weapon, engaging in certain described activities, or indulging in intoxicating liquors or certain drugs;
(4) Requiring the defendant to
report regularly to and remain under the supervision of an officer of the court[;]
or a lay sponsor approved by the intake service center;
(5) Requiring the defendant to maintain employment, or, if unemployed, to actively seek employment, or attend an educational or vocational institution;
(6) Requiring the defendant to comply with a specified curfew;
(7) Requiring the defendant to seek and maintain mental health treatment or testing, including treatment for drug or alcohol dependency, or to remain in a specified institution for that purpose;
(8) Requiring the defendant to remain in the jurisdiction of the judicial circuit in which the charges are pending unless approval is obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction to leave the jurisdiction of the court;
(9) Requiring the defendant to satisfy any other condition reasonably necessary to assure the appearance of the person as required and to assure the safety of any other person or community; or
(10) Imposing any combination of conditions listed above.
(c) The judicial officer may revoke a defendant's bail upon proof that the defendant has breached any of the conditions imposed."
SECTION 5. Section 804-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§804-9 Amount. The amount of bail rests in the discretion of the justice or judge or the officers named in section 804-5; but should be so determined as not to suffer the wealthy to escape by the payment of a pecuniary penalty, nor to render the privilege useless to the poor. In all cases, the officer letting to bail should consider the punishment to be inflicted on conviction, and the pecuniary circumstances of the party accused. The officer shall not rely upon a bail schedule or upon an amount of bail that would have been necessary to prevent the release of a defendant during jail overcrowding."
SECTION 6. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect on January 7, 2059.
Report Title:
Pretrial Risk Assessment; Pretrial Release; Bail
Description:
Requires pretrial risk assessments, pretrial bail reports, and arraignments to be completed within an unspecified number of working days after an arrest. Obligates the intake service centers to interview lay sponsors within an unspecified number of days of their identification and allows the court to order defendants released on bail, recognizance, or supervised release to report to lay sponsors for supervision. Prohibits judicial officers from denying bail absent a pretrial risk assessment score that reflects a high risk of flight or commission of a new criminal offense. Prohibits judicial officers from relying on a bail schedule or bail amount that would have been necessary to prevent release of a defendant during jail overcrowding. Effective 01/07/2059. (SD2)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
