HB 963 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO CRIMES AGAINST ELDERS.

Summary

Establishes strict liability for crimes against elders with respect to the attendant circumstance that the victim was sixty years of age or older. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Mar 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB963_HD1 → HB963_HD2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill strengthens protections for elderly victims (60 years or older) by adding strict liability provisions to multiple criminal offenses, meaning prosecutors don't need to prove the perpetrator knew the victim's age. It also expands assault and theft penalties to specifically include elderly victims and adds new protected categories including sports officials and mental health facility workers.

Scope change

Expanded from general assault/theft statutes to include specific elderly victim protections across multiple crime categories including unauthorized entry, theft, and forgery.

ENFORCEMENT

Added strict liability provisions for elderly victims in assault cases, removing the requirement to prove the perpetrator knew the victim's age.

Added strict liability provisions for forgery offenses involving elderly victims, removing the need to prove knowledge of victim's age.

SCOPE

Added new protected categories including sports officials, mental health facility workers, and home health care providers to assault statutes.

Added unauthorized entry in a dwelling offense with specific protections for elderly residents, incapacitated persons, and those with developmental disabilities.

REQUIREMENT

Modified theft statutes to include enhanced penalties when elderly victims are involved, with strict liability for age circumstance.

HB963 → HB963_HD1 · 19 edits

MAJOR

This bill expands criminal protections for vulnerable populations by adding strict liability provisions for crimes against elders and other protected groups. The changes make defendants automatically liable for the victim's age (60+ years old) in assault, theft, unauthorized entry, and forgery cases, removing the need to prove the defendant knew the victim's age. Additionally, new protected categories were added including emergency medical services providers, firefighters, water safety officers, mental health facility staff, home health care workers, and sports officials.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of protected victims beyond just elders to include emergency medical services providers, firefighters, water safety officers, mental health facility staff, home health care workers, mutual benefit society case managers, and sports officials. It also adds new theft and forgery categories involving property from elders and emergency situations.

ELIGIBILITY

Added strict liability for the age of victims (60+) in assault, theft, unauthorized entry, and forgery cases, meaning defendants are automatically liable regardless of whether they knew the victim's age.

Added emergency medical services providers as protected victims in assault cases.

Added firefighters and water safety officers as protected victims in assault cases.

Added mental health facility staff as protected victims in assault cases.

Added home health care workers as protected victims in assault cases.

Added mutual benefit society case managers as protected victims in assault cases.

Added sports officials as protected victims in assault cases.

Added theft of property from elders (60+) as a new category of first-degree theft.

Added theft of property from elders (60+) as a new category of second-degree theft.

Added theft during emergency periods with lower threshold ($300) as a new category of first-degree theft.

Added forgery involving documents from elders (60+) as a new category of first-degree forgery.

Added forgery involving documents from elders (60+) as a new category of second-degree forgery.

REQUIREMENT

Modified assault in first degree to add elder protection as a separate subsection with strict liability.

Modified assault in second degree to add multiple new protected victim categories with strict liability for age.

Modified unauthorized entry in first degree to add elder protection with strict liability.

Modified theft in first degree to add elder protection and emergency period theft categories.

Modified theft in second degree to add elder protection category.

Modified forgery in first degree to add elder protection with strict liability.

Modified forgery in second degree to add elder protection with strict liability.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to HHS, JDC.

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 308).

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Iwamoto voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Pierick, Ward excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Reported from HSH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 522) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSH recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Olds, Amato, Chun, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Takayama, Takenouchi, Alcos, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

Referred to HSH, JHA, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

17 primary · 0 co-sponsors