HI HCR131

Requests the Department of the Attorney General to establish a working group to study forensic laboratories in Hawaii, with the Honolulu Police Department operating the only full-service crime lab in the state.

Working group to include representatives from the FBI, Department of Public Safety, Judiciary, county police departments and prosecutors, Public Defender, criminal defense attorneys, Hawaii State Bar Association, ACLU, state legislators, Department of Transportation, and a Chaminade University forensic science professor.

Working group to study capabilities, staffing levels, case loads, and task completion times of forensic laboratories, as well as accreditation requirements and operational issues.

Working group to analyze annual forensic test volumes, sources of test requests, out-of-state evidence shipments and associated costs, expert witness travel expenses, DNA testing funding sources, and laboratory equipment and operating funding.

Working group must submit a report with findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the 2018 regular session convenes.