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Committee amends and advances Bill 8 (2025) to strengthen animal-nuisance enforcement and add administrative appeal language
Summary
The committee amended Bill 8 (2025) to the posted CD1 and added Department of Customer Services–recommended clarifying language about appeals of civil fines; the Hawaiian Humane Society supported the measure and asked that civil penalties also apply to stray-dog enforcement.
The Committee on Government Efficiency and Customer Services amended Bill 8 (2025), relating to animal nuisances, to a posted CD1 and advanced the measure for passage on second reading and scheduling of a public hearing.
Council member Okimoto said the CD1 contains mostly technical clarifications to the director’s authority and that the measure originated from community concerns about unleashed animals and a rise in aggressive dog reports. "We wanna make sure that we allow ordinances that will address these nuisances and make sure that our communities are safe," Okimoto said.
The Department of Customer Services submitted written testimony supporting the CD1 and recommended an additional amendment clarifying administrative appeal procedures for civil fines assessed under the nuisance provisions. Kim Hashiro, director of the Department of Customer Services, told the committee the department supports increasing fines and enforcement clarity and noted vendor and operations questions were discussed with the sponsor.
Stephanie Kendrick of the Hawaiian Humane Society urged aligning the dangerous-dog provisions with state statute and said courts are busy, which has made criminal enforcement difficult. "We've had issues enforcing the criminal penalties because our courts are very busy with things other than barking dogs, and we think having the civil alternative will, allow us to really bring consequences in these cases," Kendrick said. She also suggested applying the nuisance-ordinance penalty provisions to stray-dog enforcement in Article 12, Section 4.
The chair proposed inserting DCS-recommended clarifying language into subsection c of Section 12-2 to read in part: "the director shall establish rules for any person issued a notice of violation under this article who desires to appeal the civil fines imposed by the violation." With no objections, the committee amended the bill to the posted CD1, included the DCS language, and reported it out for passage on second reading and scheduling of a public hearing.
Next steps: Bill 8 (2025) as amended to the posted CD1 will move forward for further Council consideration and a public hearing; the committee requested coordination with DCS and stakeholders for implementation details.
