STAND. COM. REP. NO.  720

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   H.B. No. 1422

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1422 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ABANDONED VEHICLES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to allow counties to remove abandoned motor vehicles from private roads.

     Several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  The Honolulu Department of Customer Services and the Honolulu Police Department opposed this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Requiring the owner of the private road to request in writing the removal of a vehicle before it will be considered abandoned;

     (2)  Requiring the owner of the private road who requests vehicle removal to pay for the removal;

     (3)  Deeming the owner of the private road who requests vehicle removal to agree to indemnify and hold the county harmless for claims arising from the removal and disposal of the vehicle;

     (4)  Establishing a sunset date of January 1, 2010, for the measure; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

     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. 1422, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1422, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

____________________________

JON RIKI KARAMATSU, Chair