STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1148

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 364

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 364 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRESPASS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that when a trespass involves public land, all state and county law enforcement officers are authorized to and shall enforce trespass laws, without regard to whether the land is owned by the State or by a county.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawai‘i System and Hawai‘i State Public Library System. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that jurisdictional uncertainties over who is responsible for a certain area of public land can deter necessary and expedient responses from law enforcement to remove trespassers. This delay or inaction from law enforcement can further result in the taking or damaging of the State's precious natural resources and can have serious impacts on public safety. Therefore, this measure removes any jurisdictional confusion by authorizing and requiring all state and county law enforcement officers to enforce trespass laws, without concern over which government entity is jurisdictionally responsible.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Providing that any state or county law enforcement officer "may" enforce the trespass laws, as opposed to "shall"; and

(2) Inserting language to ensure that Native Hawaiians are not criminalized when exercising their constitutionally protected rights on public lands.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 364, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 364, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair