STAND. COM. REP. NO. 292

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1342

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1342 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ASSET FORFEITURE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the forfeiture of any property used or taken in any violation of laws or rules that is charged as a petty misdemeanor.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, and one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that most of Hawaii's laws and administrative rules relating to the protection of our natural, cultural, historical, and recreational resources carry a penalty of either a misdemeanor or petty misdemeanor offense.  Frequently, these penalties are not a sufficient deterrent, and violations are often committed by the same individuals even after fines or other sanctions are ordered by our courts.  The use of asset forfeiture as an enforcement tool will allow the Department of Land and Natural Resources to take action against incessant violators of our resource laws by depriving violators of the means used to commit or facilitate the violation, or which are the proceeds derived from the violation.  The use of asset forfeiture in petty misdemeanor cases strengthens the ability of the Department of Land and Natural Resources to protect Hawaii's precious resources to the fullest extent possible.

 

     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 S.B. No. 1342 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair