Bill Text: HI SB25 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Trespass; Landowner Liability
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-21 - (S) Referred to JDL. [SB25 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2011-SB25-Introduced.html
|
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
25 |
|
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
|
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to landowner liability.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Chapter 663, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§663‑ Trespass; no duty of care; landowner liability. (a) An owner of land or an occupier of land owes no duty of care to keep land safe for entry or use by a person who commits an offense under sections 708-813, 708-814, or 708-815, or to give warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity on the land, and shall not be liable to the person for any injury or death occurring upon the property during or after the commission of an offense under chapters 705, 707, 708, 710, or 711.
(b) The limitation on liability under subsection (a) arises at the moment the injured or deceased person commences the offense or attempted offense and extends to the moment the injured or deceased person is no longer upon the property.
(c) An owner of land or occupier of land shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from the acts or omissions of a person who commits an offense under sections 708‑813, 708-814, or 708-815, except for the damages as may result from the owner of land's or occupier of land's gross negligence or wilful or wanton acts that caused the injury or death."
SECTION 2. Section 708-814, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§708-814 Criminal trespass in the second degree. (1) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass in the second degree if:
(a) The person knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises that are enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders or are fenced;
(b) The person enters or remains unlawfully in or upon commercial premises after a reasonable warning or request to leave by the owner or lessee of the commercial premises, the owner's or lessee's authorized agent, or a police officer; provided that this paragraph shall not apply to any conduct or activity subject to regulation by the National Labor Relations Act.
For the purposes of this paragraph, "reasonable warning or request" means a warning or request communicated in writing at any time within a one-year period inclusive of the date the incident occurred, which may contain but is not limited to the following information:
(i) A warning statement advising the person that the person's presence is no longer desired on the property for a period of one year from the date of the notice, that a violation of the warning will subject the person to arrest and prosecution for trespassing pursuant to section 708‑814(1)(b), and that criminal trespass in the second degree is a petty misdemeanor;
(ii) The legal name, any aliases, and a photograph, if practicable, or a physical description, including but not limited to sex, racial extraction, age, height, weight, hair color, eye color, or any other distinguishing characteristics of the person warned;
(iii) The name of the person giving the warning along with the date and time the warning was given; and
(iv) The signature of the person giving the warning, the signature of a witness or police officer who was present when the warning was given and, if possible, the signature of the violator; or
(c) The person enters or remains unlawfully on agricultural lands without the permission of the owner of the land, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession of the land, and the agricultural lands:
(i) Are fenced, enclosed, or secured in a manner designed to exclude intruders;
(ii) Have a sign or signs displayed on the unenclosed cultivated or uncultivated agricultural land sufficient to give notice and reading as follows: "Private Property". The sign or signs, containing letters not less than two inches in height, shall be placed along the boundary line of the land and at roads and trails entering the land in a manner and position as to be clearly noticeable from outside the boundary line; or
(iii) At the time of entry, are fallow, or have a visible presence of a crop:
(A) Under cultivation;
(B) In the process of being harvested; or
(C) That has been harvested.
(2) Criminal trespass in the second degree is a petty misdemeanor.
(3) As used in this section, "fallow" means lands that are plowed but left unseeded for a time after successive crops."
SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
|
INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |
|
|
|
Report Title:
Trespass; Landowner Liability
Description:
Establishes that an owner or possessor of private land that is closed to the public owes no duty of care to a person who commits the offense of criminal trespass on the owner's or occupier's land, except where death or injury to the trespasser may result from the owner's or occupier's gross negligence or wilful conduct; clarifies that provisions related to criminal trespass in the second degree apply to agricultural lands that are fallow.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
