REPORT TITLE:
Landowner Liability; Trespass


DESCRIPTION:
Includes a trespasser entering private land for any purpose in
the definition of a recreational user for the purpose of
landowner liability.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2224
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO LAND USE.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to correct an anomaly
 
 2 in the law.  There are thousands of miles of private old
 
 3 plantation roads, private cane haul roads, and private rights of
 
 4 way over bridges across gullies and gulches.  Most of these are
 
 5 roads and bridges that were developed in connection with sugar
 
 6 growing and harvesting operations, and these private improvements
 
 7 now can be used by the public to access beaches and other
 
 8 recreational areas.  The legislature wishes to encourage owners
 
 9 of these private roads and bridges to make them available to the
 
10 public for recreational purposes by limiting their liability
 
11 toward persons entering the private land for recreational
 
12 purposes.  Chapter 520, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was enacted to
 
13 encourage landowners to make land and water areas available to
 
14 the public for recreational purposes.  However, the lessened
 
15 liability provided by Chapter 520 does not apply if an injured
 
16 person was merely trespassing on a private road or bridge, as
 
17 opposed to using it for recreational purposes.  To promote the
 
18 purposes of Chapter 520, the Legislature finds that there is no
 
19 basis for differentiation between a trespasser and a recreational
 
20 user in these circumstances.
 

 
Page 2                                                     
                                     S.B. NO.           2224
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 2.  Section 520-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending the definition of "recreational user" to read
 
 3 as follows:
 
 4      ""Recreational user" means any [person] person, including a
 
 5 trespasser who enters the private land of another for any
 
 6 purpose, who is on or about the premises that the owner of land
 
 7 either directly [[]or[]] indirectly invites or permits, without
 
 8 charge, entry onto the property for recreational purposes."
 
 9      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
10 New statutory material is underscored.
 
11      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
12 
 
13                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________