REPORT TITLE:


DESCRIPTION:


 
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THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO ENFORCEMENT.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 199-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§199-7  Search and seizure; forfeiture of property.(a)
 
 4 Any police officer or agent of the department of land and natural
 
 5 resources upon whom the board of land and natural resources has
 
 6 conferred powers of police officers, shall have the authority to
 
 7 conduct searches on probable cause as provided by law and to
 
 8 seize any equipment, article, instrument, aircraft, vehicle,
 
 9 vessel, business records, or natural resource used or taken in
 
10 violation of the provisions contained in chapters 6E and 6K, or
 
11 title 12, or any rules adopted thereunder.  For purposes of this
 
12 section, "natural resource" includes any archaeological
 
13 artifacts, minerals, any aquatic life or wildlife or parts
 
14 thereof, including their eggs, and any land plants or parts
 
15 thereof, including seeds.
 
16      (b)  Any equipment, article, instrument, aircraft, vehicle,
 
17 vessel, business records, or natural resource seized is subject
 
18 to forfeiture pursuant to chapter 712A.  [Notwithstanding section
 
19 712A-16 or any other law to the contrary, any natural resource
 

 
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 1 forfeited shall be turned over to the department of land and
 
 2 natural resources for disposition as determined by that
 
 3 department and may be destroyed, if illegal, or may be kept and
 
 4 retained and utilized by the department of land and natural
 
 5 resources or any other state agency, or if not needed or required
 
 6 by the department or other state agency, may be sold at public
 
 7 auction in the judicial circuit in which it was seized, the
 
 8 auction to be held once annually at a place and time to be
 
 9 designated by the department and public notice thereof to be
 
10 given within the judicial circuit at least once before the
 
11 auction, the first notice to be not less than twenty days prior
 
12 to the auction.  The auction shall be conducted by a person other
 
13 than an employee of the department but designated by the
 
14 department.]  Unless otherwise directed by the court, subject to
 
15 the provisions of chapter 712A, any item, other than a natural
 
16 resource, seized shall be ordered forfeited to the State for
 
17 disposition as determined by the department, or may be destroyed,
 
18 or may be kept and retained and utilized by the department or any
 
19 other state agency.  If not needed or required by the department
 
20 or other state agency, the forfeited items shall be disposed of
 
21 as provided by chapter 712A.  Notwithstanding any other law to
 
22 the contrary, any natural resource seized may be immediately
 

 
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 1 returned to its natural environment or suitable habitat or may be
 
 2 disposed of as determined by the department; provided that if the
 
 3 natural resource disposed of was unlawfully seized, the
 
 4 department shall be liable to the owner for the fair market value
 
 5 of the items disposed of.
 
 6      (c)  The department of land and natural resources shall
 
 7 compile a list of all equipment, articles, instruments, aircraft,
 
 8 vehicles, vessels, or any natural resource forfeited as provided
 
 9 in this section and shall publish the list in its annual report.
 
10      (d)  Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the
 
11 department of land and natural resources may sell or take actions
 
12 to cause the sale of any perishable natural resource that is
 
13 seized to prevent the waste of the natural resource and to ensure
 
14 the economic value of such natural resource. The department of
 
15 land and natural resources may require the person or persons that
 
16 took the natural resources to sell the seized natural resources
 
17 at fair market value.  The department of land and natural
 
18 resources may require any person purchasing any seized natural
 
19 resource to deliver the proceeds of the sale to the department of
 
20 land and natural resources or its authorized representative.  Any
 
21 person who refuses to sell the seized natural resources at fair
 
22 market value or any person who fails to deliver the proceeds of
 

 
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 1 the sale, as directed by the department of land and natural
 
 2 resources, shall be in violation of this subsection and
 
 3 punishable as provided by law.  The department of land and
 
 4 natural resources shall deposit and keep the proceeds of the sale
 
 5 in an interest bearing account until such time as the suspected
 
 6 violation is settled between the person or persons that took the
 
 7 natural resource, consignee or consignees, if any, and the
 
 8 department of land and natural resources. Should a settlement not
 
 9 be reached, the department of land and natural resources shall
 
10 submit the proceeds of the sale to the court.  The proceeds of
 
11 the sale, after deducting any reasonable costs of the sale
 
12 incurred by the department of land and natural resources, will be
 
13 subject to any administrative or judicial proceedings in the same
 
14 manner as the seized natural resource would have been, including
 
15 an action in rem for the forfeiture of the proceeds.  Seizure and
 
16 sale of a natural resource is without prejudice to any other
 
17 remedy or sanction authorized by law."
 
18      SECTION 2.  Section 712A-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
19 amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:
 
20      "(1)  Personal property subject to forfeiture under this
 
21 chapter may be seized for forfeiture by a law enforcement
 
22 officer:
 

 
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 1      (a)  On process issued pursuant to the rules of civil
 
 2           procedure or the provisions of this chapter including a
 
 3           seizure warrant;
 
 4      (b)  By making a seizure for forfeiture on property seized
 
 5           on process issued pursuant to law; or
 
 6      (c)  By making a seizure for forfeiture without court
 
 7           process as follows:
 
 8           (i)  The seizure for forfeiture is of property seized
 
 9                incident to an arrest or search;
 
10          (ii)  The property subject to seizure for forfeiture has
 
11                been the subject of a prior judgment in favor of
 
12                the State or any other state or the federal
 
13                government in forfeiture proceeding;
 
14         (iii)  The law enforcement officer has probable cause to
 
15                believe that the property seized for forfeiture is
 
16                directly or indirectly dangerous to health or
 
17                safety; [or]
 
18          (iv)  The law enforcement officer has probable cause to
 
19                believe that the property is subject to
 
20                forfeiture[.]; or
 
21           (v)  The seizure for forfeiture is of perishable
 
22                natural resources seized and sold, pursuant to
 

 
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 1                section 199-7, prior to a forfeiture proceeding."
 
 2      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 3 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 4      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 5 
 
 6                           INTRODUCED BY: ________________________
 

 
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