S.R. No. 145 Summary

• Urges the Department of Agriculture to establish a two-year Agricultural Crime Pilot Project in Honolulu and Kauai to examine the effectiveness of prosecuting agricultural theft and vandalism cases.

• Requests the Department of Agriculture coordinate with the Department of Law Enforcement and local counties to hire one full-time enforcement officer for each county, to be placed in the respective prosecuting attorney's office or other law enforcement agency.

• Requires assessment of the pilot project through tracking convictions, identifying best practices for prosecution and prevention, improving farmer reporting mechanisms, and determining where agricultural crimes are most prevalent.

• Directs submission of an interim report to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the 2025 Regular Session and a final report no later than 20 days before the 2026 Regular Session, including any proposed legislation.

• Addresses a documented problem: in 2019, nearly 19,000 farm crime incidents in Hawaii resulted in $14.4 million in losses but only 67 convictions, with Honolulu and Kauai experiencing the highest and third-highest theft/vandalism rates respectively.