HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2017

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to agricultural lands.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  Section 663-10.99, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

     "Agricultural land" means [any]:

     (1)  Any land that is four acres or less and used primarily for a farming operation and generates at least $100,000 per year in profit; or

     (2)  Any land in excess of four acres used primarily for a farming operation[, as defined in section 165-2];

provided that the term shall include land used for farm buildings and dwellings and roads and irrigation infrastructure associated with the agricultural land.

     "Fallow" means land associated with agricultural production that is left unseeded or unplanted for one or more growing seasons.

     "Farming operation" has the same meaning as defined in section 165-2.

     "Owner" means the possessor of a fee interest, a tenant, lessee, occupant, or person, group, club, partnership, family, organization, entity, or corporation that is in control, possession, or use of the land, and their members, agents, partners, representatives, shareholders, and employees.

     "Trespasser" means a person who enters or remains unlawfully on the agricultural land without the permission of the owner, and the lands:

     (1)  Are fenced, enclosed, secured in a manner designed to exclude the general public, or marked by a structure or barrier, including a cattle grid, cattle grate, or other obstacle used to secure livestock;

     (2)  Have a sign or signs displayed on the land that are sufficient to give reasonable notice and that read as follows:  "No Trespassing" or a substantially similar message; provided that the sign or signs shall consist of letters not less than two inches in height and shall be placed at reasonable intervals along the boundary line of the land and at roads and trails entering the land in a manner and position as to be clearly noticeable from outside the boundary line; or

     (3)  At the time of entry, are fallow or have a visible presence or evidence of livestock-raising, such as cattle, horses, water troughs, shelters, or paddocks, or a crop:

          (A)  Under cultivation;

          (B)  In the process of being harvested; or

          (C)  That has been harvested."

     SECTION 2.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

 


 


 

Report Title:

Agricultural Lands; Trespass

 

Description:

Expands the definition of "agricultural lands" as it relates to an agricultural land owner's liability for injury, death, loss, or damage suffered by a trespasser, to include farm lands that are four acres or less and generate at least $100,000 per year in profit.

 

 

 

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