STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2336

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2611

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2611 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOLS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Include weekends and holidays as times where a reasonable warning or request to leave school premises is not required for a person to commit the offense of criminal trespass in the first degree; and

(2) Specify that, for the offense of criminal trespass in the first degree, a reasonable warning or request to leave school premises includes a written lifetime prohibition against the person entering the premises.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that increasing instances of harassment and violence against educational workers jeopardize the safety and stability of educational environments. This growing issue necessitates the expansion and streamlining of protective and preventative measures, such as trespass laws that promote campus security. Your Committee further finds that empowering the Department of Education to issue harsher penalties against offenders may deter violent misconduct. This measure strengthens the safety and security of school communities for students and staff.

Your Committee acknowledges the concerns raised in testimony by the Department of the Attorney General that while the intent of this measure is to provide broader enforcement of criminal trespass in the first degree on any public or private school premises, outlining specific written warning requirements in statute creates unnecessary obstacles to enforcement. In addition to being burdensome, the Department of the Attorney General testified that these detailed requirements are unnecessary because existing statute broadly covers the requirement of a "reasonable warning or request", which includes scenarios involving lifetime prohibitions served on individuals by school officials. Therefore, amendments to this measure are necessary to address these concerns.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have:

(A) Specified that, for the offense of criminal trespass in the first degree, a reasonable warning or request to leave school premises includes a lifetime prohibition against the person entering the premises; and

(B) Detailed information that may be included in the written warning or request; and

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2611, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2611, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair