Authorizes the counties to tow and dispose of abandoned vehicles on any public highway, public property, or private lands adjacent to or part of a public highway or on private roads pending dedication to the State or county. (HD1)

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that, while the problem with abandoned vehicles in public highways, streets, and rights of way and on private lands contiguous to public highways, streets, and rights of way is growing, there appears to be some confusion as to the jurisdiction of the counties to take custody and dispose of abandoned cars found in various areas of the counties.

The purpose of this Act is to clarify that:

SECTION 2. Section 290-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§290-1 Disposition by counties of certain abandoned vehicles. (a) The counties may cause vehicles that have been abandoned to be taken into custody and disposed of[, which have been abandoned]. [A] For purposes of this subsection, a vehicle is "abandoned"[, for the purposes of this subsection,] if it is defined to be abandoned by an ordinance of the county in which the vehicle is located[; in]. In the absence of such an ordinance, for purposes of this subsection, a vehicle is "abandoned" if it is left unattended for a continuous period of more than twenty-four hours and it is unlawfully parked on any public highway or other public property[.] or private lands defined as a setback, shoulder, easement, or right of way that is adjacent to or part of a public highway. The mayors of the several counties may designate an agency within their counties to carry out the functions and requirements of this section. The term "agency" means any office, department, or other governmental unit of the county.

(b) The housing and community development corporation of Hawaii may cause vehicles [which] that have been abandoned on any public housing property owned, managed, or administered by the housing and community development corporation of Hawaii[,] to be taken into custody and disposed of. [A] For purposes of this subsection, a vehicle is "abandoned"[, for the purposes of this subsection,] if it is left unattended for a continuous period of more than twenty-four hours after a notice is conspicuously posted on the vehicle that the vehicle is subject to disposal pursuant to this subsection.

(c) The counties may cause vehicles to be taken into custody and disposed of that have been abandoned in a master planned community developed by the housing and community development corporation of Hawaii where dedication of its private roads are pending approval by the county. For purposes of this subsection, a vehicle is "abandoned" if it is left unattended for a continuous period of more than twenty-four hours after a notice is conspicuously posted on the vehicle that the vehicle is subject to disposal pursuant to this subsection."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.