Prohibits the Department of Law Enforcement, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Taxation, and Department of the Attorney General from appointing or employing certain former United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol agents and employees as law enforcement officers. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Prohibits certain solicitation and inducement practices relating to insurance claims. Establishes disaster-related insurance fraud offenses. Broadens the scope of the offense of insurance fraud and the acts that constitute insurance fraud. Clarifies the penalties for the offense of insurance fraud and the capabilities and operations of the Insurance Fraud Investigations Branch, including the annual report to the Legislature and the use of fraud analytics. Reiterates protections for insurance fraud whistleblowers. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)
Establishes the Agricultural Enforcement Program within the Department of Law Enforcement. Establishes the Agricultural Enforcement Special Fund. Establishes positions. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD3)
HB 2288 expands parole eligibility for incarcerated individuals by allowing them to qualify for parole through participation in a broader range of rehabilitation programs. The bill directly affects committed persons (those serving prison sentences) by adding new program types to the existing criteria for parole consideration. Key provisions require correctional facilities to recognize these additional programs as meeting the eligibility requirements for parole hearings. This change aims to provide more pathways for inmates to demonstrate rehabilitation progress before parole consideration.
Beginning 7/1/2027, requires the Judiciary to develop, implement, and administer an automated court appearance reminder system that generates text message or electronic mail notifications for upcoming court appearances in certain types of cases. Requires persons making an arrest or issuing a citation to obtain, to the extent practicable, the offender's mobile telephone number and electronic mail address. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
HB 2153 establishes the Kūpaʻa Law Enforcement Retention Bonus Program, which provides financial incentives to help retain law enforcement officers. The bill allocates state funds specifically for these retention bonuses, directly affecting eligible law enforcement officers in Hawaii. The key mechanism is the state appropriating dedicated funding to cover the bonus payments. This policy change creates a formal, funded program to support officer retention efforts.
Establishes the procedure that a circuit court shall follow upon the reversal or vacation of an individual's judgment of conviction on grounds consistent with innocence, and where the charges were dismissed. Requires the State to pay advance compensation to any petitioner who was convicted in a court of the State, imprisoned for at least one year, and whose judgment of conviction was reversed or vacated, or was pardoned, on grounds consistent with innocence. Requires the Comptroller to issue a warrant for payment of advance compensation to a petitioner. Requires the Department of Human Services, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to contract with a community-based agency to assign a case manager to a petitioner upon the petitioner's release. Requires the State to provide medical coverage to a person for a certain duration upon the reversal or vacation of the person's judgment of conviction on grounds consistent with innocence and where the charges were dismissed. Provides that the Judiciary and Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall retain jurisdiction over the person for the purposes of effectuating this process. Authorizes the State to seek reimbursement from the applicable county for any losses incurred by the State pursuant to this process. Requires the Department of the Attorney General to submit an annual report to the Legislature. Clarifies eligibility to seek compensation for individuals whose judgment of conviction was reversed or vacated, or who were pardoned, on grounds consistent with innocence, and where the charges were dismissed. Shifts the burden of proof to the State to prove by a preponderance of evidence that the reversal or vacation of the judgment of conviction for a petitioner, or the pardoning of the petitioner, was inconsistent with innocence. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)
HB 2600 allocates state funds to hire one full-time Deputy Public Defender III position within the Office of the Public Defender. This bill directly affects the Office of the Public Defender by providing budgetary resources to support its staffing needs. The legislation is purely procedural, focusing solely on funding a specific staff position without altering legal standards or procedures.
Expands programming and training for the comprehensive offender reentry program under the department of corrections and rehabilitation to reduce the rate of recidivism and increase inmate marketability. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Includes correctional workers as protected participants in peer support counseling sessions, giving them the same confidentiality protections provided to law enforcement officers and emergency services personnel.
