State lawmakers are moving along measures to curb crimes on farms, including those that would establish a “stand your ground” law on agricultural lands to give farmers and ranchers more ability to defend themselves.
The bills aim to address growing concerns for farmers: trespassing, theft, vandalism and violence.
The most pointed measure is Senate Bill 1248, which would give farmers the ability to use “deadly force” against an aggressor.
Dubbed the “Cranston Duke Pia Act,” the bill is named after the Waiʻanae farmer who was allegedly shot and killed by an armed 17-year-old trespassing on his farm in February 2024.
“I don't think any of you want to go through what I'm going through. Five months before Cranston got shot, I lost my wife,” said Michael Pia, Cranston Pia’s father, at a Monday hearing on the measure.
"I was still grieving my loss, and when I heard Cranston was flatlined, for six weeks I didn't do a damn thing. And until today, I still ask the question, 'Why? Why a young kid took my son away?'"
The 39-year-old Cranston Pia was the youngest of four children, his father said.
Dealing with crimes on farms and ranches is one of the top priorities for key state lawmakers who focus on food and agriculture.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that agricultural theft and vandalism, along with security measures to prevent crime, cost local farmers around $14.4 million in 2019.
The following year, the state Department of Agriculture reported 66 felony cases of agricultural theft, 30 trespassing cases, and 48 additional offenses in the County of Hawaiʻi alone.
But the USDA reported around 19,000 incidents of crime in 2019 in a survey of Hawaiʻi farms. Agricultural crimes are likely underreported, in part because of a prohibitive reporting process, and a lack of enforcement of existing rules.
Another measure moving through the Legislature, Senate Bill 1257, would set up an agricultural crimes task force and classify an “agricultural crime” as a Class C felony. Those crimes include property crimes, unpermitted hunting, and failures to control a “dangerous dog” on agricultural properties.
A third measure, Senate Bill 1249, would create a crime prevention program within the state Department of Agriculture. It would also set administrative penalties for agricultural crimes and make “habitual” agricultural crimes and certain other offenses on agricultural land a felony.
The state Department of the Attorney General supported the measure, saying in a written testimony that it “clarifies violations related to agriculture and agricultural lands, including but not limited to hunting on private agricultural lands, and strengthens penalties for certain agricultural crimes."
All three measures passed through the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment on Friday.
Another measure, House Bill 498, would establish a Hawaiʻi Agricultural Crimes Council. It’s scheduled for a committee hearing Tuesday.
