STAND. COM. REP. NO. 750

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 951

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 951, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIRE PROTECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish criminal penalties for the intentional setting of fires within forest reserves, public hunting areas, wildlife and plant sanctuaries, and natural area reserves.

Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Testimony in opposition to the measure was submitted by the Office of the Public Defender.

This measure provides that an individual that intentionally sets fire to lands within the jurisdiction of the Department of Land and Natural Resources is guilty of the offense of criminal property damage. In addition, this bill increases the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony for any person who sets a fire within a closed fire area without a permit or who maliciously sets a fire that burns another person's property, and provides that an individual who intentionally sets the fire is also subject to a fine and is responsible for restitution to defray the costs of extinguishment as well as the actual amount of damages incurred.

 

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Making technical, non-substantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style; and

(2) Inserting a savings clause.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 951, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 951, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair