REPORT TITLE:
Enforcement

DESCRIPTION:
Establishes procedures for fishing violations.  (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO ENFORCEMENT.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 199-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§199-7  Search and seizure; forfeiture of property.(a)
 
 4 Any police officer or agent of the department of land and natural
 
 5 resources upon whom the board of land and natural resources has
 
 6 conferred powers of police officers, shall have the authority to
 
 7 conduct searches on probable cause as provided by law and to
 
 8 seize any equipment, article, instrument, aircraft, vehicle,
 
 9 vessel, business records, or natural resource used or taken in
 
10 violation of the provisions contained in chapters 6E and 6K, or
 
11 title 12, or any rules adopted thereunder.  For purposes of this
 
12 section, "natural resource" includes any archaeological
 
13 artifacts, minerals, any aquatic life or wildlife or parts
 
14 thereof, including their eggs, and any land plants or parts
 
15 thereof, including seeds.
 
16      (b)  Any equipment, article, instrument, aircraft, vehicle,
 
17 vessel, business records, or natural resource seized is subject
 
18 to forfeiture pursuant to chapter 712A.  [Notwithstanding section
 
19 712A-16 or any other law to the contrary, any natural resource
 

 
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 1 forfeited shall be turned over to the department of land and
 
 2 natural resources for disposition as determined by that
 
 3 department and may be destroyed, if illegal, or may be kept and
 
 4 retained and utilized by the department of land and natural
 
 5 resources or any other state agency, or if not needed or required
 
 6 by the department or other state agency, may be sold at public
 
 7 auction in the judicial circuit in which it was seized, the
 
 8 auction to be held once annually at a place and time to be
 
 9 designated by the department and public notice thereof to be
 
10 given within the judicial circuit at least once before the
 
11 auction, the first notice to be not less than twenty days prior
 
12 to the auction.  The auction shall be conducted by a person other
 
13 than an employee of the department but designated by the
 
14 department.]  Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any
 
15 natural resource seized may be immediately returned to its
 
16 natural environment or suitable habitat or may be disposed of as
 
17 determined by the department; provided that if the natural
 
18 resource disposed of was unlawfully seized, the department shall
 
19 be liable to the owner for the fair market value of the items
 
20 disposed of.
 
21      (c)  The department of land and natural resources shall
 
22 compile a list of all equipment, articles, instruments, aircraft,
 
23 vehicles, vessels, or any natural resource forfeited as provided
 

 
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 1 in this section and shall publish the list in its annual report.
 
 2      (d)  Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the
 
 3 department of land and natural resources may sell or take actions
 
 4 to cause the sale of any perishable natural resource that is
 
 5 seized to prevent the waste of the natural resource and to ensure
 
 6 the economic value of such natural resource.  The department of
 
 7 land and natural resources may require the person or persons who
 
 8 took the natural resources to sell the seized natural resources
 
 9 at fair market value.  The department of land and natural
 
10 resources may require any person purchasing any seized natural
 
11 resource to deliver the proceeds of the sale to the department of
 
12 land and natural resources or its authorized representative.  Any
 
13 person who refuses to sell the seized natural resources at fair
 
14 market value or any person who fails to deliver the proceeds of
 
15 the sale, as directed by the department of land and natural
 
16 resources, shall be in violation of this subsection and
 
17 punishable as provided by law.  The department of land and
 
18 natural resources shall deposit and keep the proceeds of the sale
 
19 in an interest bearing account until such time as the suspected
 
20 violation is settled between the person or persons who took the
 
21 natural resource, consignee or consignees, if any, and the
 
22 department of land and natural resources.  If a settlement is not
 
23 reached, the department of land and natural resources shall
 

 
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 1 submit the proceeds of the sale to the court.  The proceeds of
 
 2 the sale, after deducting any reasonable costs of the sale
 
 3 incurred by the department of land and natural resources, shall
 
 4 be subject to any administrative or judicial proceedings in the
 
 5 same manner as the seized natural resource would have been,
 
 6 including an action in rem for the forfeiture of the proceeds.
 
 7 Seizure and sale of a natural resource are without prejudice to
 
 8 any other remedy or sanction authorized by law."
 
 9      SECTION 2.  Section 712A-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
10 amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:
 
11      "(1)  Personal property subject to forfeiture under this
 
12 chapter may be seized for forfeiture by a law enforcement
 
13 officer:
 
14      (a)  On process issued pursuant to the rules of civil
 
15           procedure or the provisions of this chapter including a
 
16           seizure warrant;
 
17      (b)  By making a seizure for forfeiture on property seized
 
18           on process issued pursuant to law; or
 
19      (c)  By making a seizure for forfeiture without court
 
20           process as follows:
 
21           (i) The seizure for forfeiture is of property seized
 
22               incident to an arrest or search;
 
23          (ii) The property subject to seizure for forfeiture has
 

 
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 1               been the subject of a prior judgment in favor of
 
 2               the State or any other state or the federal
 
 3               government in forfeiture proceeding;
 
 4         (iii) The law enforcement officer has probable cause to
 
 5               believe that the property seized for forfeiture is
 
 6               directly or indirectly dangerous to health or
 
 7               safety; [or]
 
 8          (iv) The law enforcement officer has probable cause to
 
 9               believe that the property is subject to
 
10               forfeiture[.]; or
 
11           (v) The seizure for forfeiture is of perishable natural
 
12               resources seized and sold, pursuant to section
 
13               199-7, prior to a forfeiture proceeding."
 
14      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
15 New statutory material is underscored.
 
16      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.