STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2927

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2633

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2633 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PENAL CODE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the offense of unauthorized attachment of an object to a fence, gate, wall, or other structure as a petty misdemeanor.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender.

Your Committee finds that public sidewalks are increasingly obstructed by tents, illegal structures, signs, and other objects attached to adjacent property, such as fences, walls, gates, and other privately owned structures. Your Committee further finds that existing law does not adequately empower law enforcement officers to summarily detach these objects from the private property, forcing property owners to initiate civil complaints through the courts. This measure prohibits the attachment of objects to fences and other structures without permission by the owner, and facilitates the removal of objects attached in this manner, by establishing the criminal offense of unauthorized attachment of an object to a fence, gate, wall, or other structure.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the term "object" means any material thing that can be seen and touched, including but not limited to tarps, ropes, signage, and any communication that falls under the definition of "advertisement" in section 11-302, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of 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 S.B. No. 2633, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2633, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair