STAND. COM. REP. NO. 835

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1202

H.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1202, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL TRESPASSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to deter trespassing on agricultural lands by providing that a person commits the offense of criminal trespass in the second degree if the person, without permission from the property owner, enters cultivated or uncultivated agricultural land when no-trespass signs are posted along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the property.

The Department of Agriculture, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, Maui County Farm Bureau, Pineapple Growers Association of Hawaii, and numerous concerned individuals testified in support of this bill. The Office of the Public Defender offered comments.

Your Committee notes that concerns were raised about whether the posting of no-trespass signs as provided in this bill would give adequate notification that a person is trespassing on agricultural land, as well as about the potential effects this bill may have on state and federal personnel entering agricultural lands to conduct official business within the scope of their legal authority. This measure therefore merits further discussion.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Adding a defective date to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1202, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1202, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

 

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair