HB 29 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE COUNTIES.

Summary

Authorizes counties, after adoption of power of sale laws, ordinances, or rules, to sell private property after all notices, orders, and appeal proceedings are exhausted, and to use those revenues to pay unpaid civil fines related to that property. Requires the county to remit any amounts in excess of the unpaid civil fines to the property owner. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 10, 2025 Last action Feb 26, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB29_HD1 → HB29_HD2 · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Hawaii Revised Statutes to expand county powers, specifically adding authority to address public nuisances through civil fines and property liens, and clarifies the power of sale process for collecting unpaid fines. The changes also update the list of general county powers to include new provisions for sewer monitoring, water meter installation, and graffiti fines.

Scope change

The bill expands county enforcement authority beyond existing nuisance laws to include administrative civil fines and property liens as a last resort when other remedies fail, while adding specific powers for infrastructure management and utility regulation.

ENFORCEMENT

Added authority for counties to impose civil fines for ordinance violations and attach unpaid fines to property taxes and fees (excluding residential water and sewer charges), creating a lien on real property.

Added power of sale provisions allowing counties to sell property to satisfy unpaid civil fines after all appeals and notices are exhausted, with excess proceeds returned to the property owner.

Added authority for counties to impose graffiti fines up to $1,000 or actual repair costs, with joint liability for parents or guardians of minors who commit the offense.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific requirements for sewer lateral monitoring, including property owner inspection obligations and leak detection programs for infiltration and inflow.

DEFINITION

Added definitions for 'infiltration' and 'inflow' in the context of sewer system management to clarify what constitutes unauthorized water entry.

TIMELINE

Set the effective date of the Act to July 1, 3000, which appears to be a placeholder or error in the legislative text.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Garcia, Pierick voting no (2) and Representative(s) Cochran, Kitagawa, Ward excused (3).

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 619) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Shimizu; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Garcia; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Committee

Reported from WAL (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 20) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on WAL recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Hashem, Lamosao, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Morikawa, Poepoe, Shimizu, Souza; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Belatti; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Woodson.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to WAL, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 10, 2025

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors