SB2836 SD1

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2836
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to Public Access.

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

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to modify the definition of the term "public recreational area", and the offense of obstructing access to public property, and to define the term "public right-of-way".

SECTION 2. Section 115‑9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) A person commits the offense of obstructing access to public property if the person, by action or by having installed a physical impediment[,] or barrier, intentionally prevents a member of the public from traversing:

(1) A public right-of-way;

(2) A transit area; or

(3) A public transit corridor;

and thereby obstructs any public right-of-way, transit area, or public transit corridor itself, access to the sea, access to or along the shoreline, [or] access to any inland public recreational area[.], or access to any government road or road that is not privately owned."

2. By amending subsection (e) to read:

"(e) As used in this section:

"Person" means a natural person or a legal entity.

"Public recreational area" means coastal and inland recreational areas, including beaches, shores, public parks, public lands [or], public trails, and bodies of water opened to the public for recreational use.

"Public right-of-way" means an easement or way, including a lateral easement along the shoreline, coastline, or beach, over which the public has the right to travel and that is used by or is intended for use by the public primarily to access a public beach, shore, park, trail, or other public recreational area."

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 Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.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.