STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1163

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1201

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 1201, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL THEFT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend agricultural theft laws.

The Department of Agriculture, the City and County of Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney (Prosecuting Attorney's Office), the Big Island Farm Bureau, the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Hawaii Aquaculture Association, the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, the Maui County Farm Bureau, and the Pineapple Growers Association of Hawaii submitted testimony in support of this measure.

Your Committee finds that agricultural theft is a critical problem for Hawaii's farmers, especially in sparsely populated areas that are isolated from law enforcement. Thus, this measure strengthens current theft laws by providing that possession of agricultural commodities or livestock without proper certificates is evidence that the person knows that the commodities were stolen.

Your Committee noted concerns from the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation that sign requirements for both criminal trespass in the second degree and theft in the second degree were inconsistent. Thus, your Committee amended this measure's and H.B. No. 1202, H.D. 2's sign requirements to be consistent with each other.

Specifically, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Including agricultural commodities to the list of property that, if taken, constitutes the crime of theft in the second degree;

(2) Providing that agricultural products exceeding twenty-five, rather than thirty-five, pounds in weight, if taken, also constitutes the crime of theft in the second degree;

(3) Clarifying that agricultural equipment, supplies, commodities, or products that are taken from an enclosed area, an area marked with "private property" signs, or an area with visible presence of a crop under cultivation will be considered theft in the second degree; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for style, clarity, and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1201, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1201, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

		____________________________ RUSSELL S. KOKUBUN, Chair