STAND. COM. REP. NO. 659-04
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2004
RE: H.B. No. 698
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 698 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL TRESPASS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of the bill is to more effectively prevent persons from illegally entering or residing on beaches and campgrounds by:
(1) Making these persons subject to the offense of criminal trespass in the second degree, and thereby increasing the penalty from a violation to a petty misdemeanor; and
(2) Changing from one year, to an unspecified period of time, the period that a person caught trespassing must stay off the property under the terms of a written warning provided to the person.
The Mokuleia Community Association, Hawaii Reserves, Inc., and three concerned individuals supported this bill. The Honolulu Police Department supported the measure with amendments. The Office of the Public Defender, Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, Partners in Care, and a concerned citizen opposed this bill. The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu submitted comments.
Your Committee finds that some homeless people set up illegal shelters on public beaches to the detriment of the beaches' recreational users. However, there is no indication of a need to extend protection to private property, or to extend the warning period beyond one year.
Your Committee has amended the bill by:
(1) Deleting the references to private property;
(2) Retaining the one year time period for which the warning is applicable; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, 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. 698, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 698, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair |
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