THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	112
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the judiciary and the department of public safety to collaborate on reducing the necessity and number of trips by prisoners to courthouses for hearings.

 

 

     WHEREAS, transporting inmates and detainees from correctional facilities to courtrooms requires the expenditure of manpower and resources; and

 

     WHEREAS, courtrooms are not as secure as correctional facilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, an inmate was brought to the State Circuit Court building for a probation revocation hearing on October 31, 2012, but escaped from custody at the Circuit Court building; and

 

     WHEREAS, the inmate remained at large until the next day; and

 

     WHEREAS, a pretrial detainee awaiting trial on a charge of second-degree murder was brought to the State Circuit Court building for a pretrial hearing on February 20, 2013, but escaped from custody soon after arrival; and

 

     WHEREAS, the detainee remained at large for more than eleven hours; and

 

     WHEREAS, the recapture of both escapees required a considerable number of law enforcement officers to search for and apprehend the escapees; and

 

     WHEREAS, the escapes sent surrounding areas into a panic, including the lockdown of nearby schools; and

 

     WHEREAS, the technology exists for incarcerated persons to participate in court hearings or proceedings remotely from correctional facilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, remote participation in court proceedings by incarcerated persons minimizes the possibility of escape, while still protecting their rights; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body requests that the Judiciary and the Department of Public Safety collaborate to reduce the necessity and number of prisoner trips to courthouses for hearings; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Judiciary and the Department of Public Safety are requested to submit a joint report on the results of this collaboration to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2014; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court and Director of Public Safety.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Prisoners; Trips to Courthouse; Judiciary; Public Safety