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Committee narrows HB 731 to allow trained health‑care providers to collect forensic evidence for minors, removes facility consent provision
Summary
The committee approved amendments to HB 731 so licensed, trained health‑care providers — rather than only physicians — may collect forensic evidence from minor survivors, and removed a provision expanding consent at the youth correctional facility.
The committee advanced House Bill 731 with substantive amendments intended to preserve the existing forensic‑evidence system while expanding who may perform examinations for minors who report certain sexual offenses.
Representatives of the sexual‑assault treatment center told the committee they "support wider access to survivors, minors, to this type of care following a *** assault" but were concerned the bill, as drafted, could disrupt the existing coordinated forensic‑evidence system that provides 24‑hour exam and evidence‑storage services across counties. A witness from that center warned that broadening the set of clinicians who collect evidence raises questions about how chain of custody, evidence storage and victim notification under chapter 844G would be maintained.
Deputy Attorney General Melissa Chi explained the state has a statutory framework (chapter 844G) that sets training, collection and preservation protocols for forensic kits and said those who have completed specialized education (for example, sexual assault nurse examiners) are best suited to perform examinations and preserve evidence. The AG's office also noted an existing statute (HRS §352‑8) that authorizes the executive director of the Office of Youth Services to act as natural guardian for youth committed to the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility and therefore questioned the necessity of a separate consent provision in the bill.
Committee action: The chair recommended and the committee adopted amendments to (1) replace the term "physician licensed to practice in the state" with "licensed health care provider properly trained in the medical forensic care of a patient who has experienced sexual assault or abuse," (2) add subsection language shielding a health‑care provider from civil or criminal liability if the provider relied in good faith on the minor's consent for care under the bill, and (3) delete part 2 (the provision regarding consent and the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility). The committee also defected the effective date.
What happens next: The bill will continue with the amended language that emphasizes training and limits liability for good‑faith reliance on a minor's consent; the committee asked staff to reconcile statutory references to consent and guardian authority as the bill moves forward.
