THE SENATE
S.C.R. NO.
72
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the department of the attorney general to conduct a study on the need to update self-defense laws on agricultural lands.
WHEREAS, agriculture is a crucial industry in the State; and
WHEREAS, when an individual resorts to deadly force, the law imposes a heightened threshold of mental awareness, situational understanding, and decision-making rationality, requiring the individual to perceive the nature of the threat, assess available alternatives, and select a legally permissible response under rapidly evolving circumstances; and
WHEREAS, this asymmetry is especially pronounced on agricultural lands where spatial isolation, limited access to immediate law enforcement assistance, and the practical realities of active agricultural operations constrain the range of immediate and feasible options available to farmers and ranchers; and
WHEREAS, in the absence of a stand-your-ground law, individuals engaged in lawful agricultural activity may be held to legal expectations that do not fully account for these operational realities, thereby creating a structural mismatch between doctrinal self-defense standards and the conditions under which confrontations on agricultural lands typically occur; and
WHEREAS, in this context, the absence of a stand-your-ground-law does not merely preserve a duty to retreat, it effectively presumes the availability of retreat, rational deliberations, or the immediate availability of law enforcement officers under conditions that often do not exist in active agricultural settings; and
WHEREAS, this doctrinal framework assumes that the duty to retreat and exhaust all avenues of avoidance prior to using deadly force is the normative contextual basis in which agricultural workers engage while working ranches and farmlands; and
WHEREAS, agricultural work is often conducted in rural, geographically isolated locations, far removed from the immediate availability of adequate law enforcement responses, rendering these isolated locations particularly vulnerable to agricultural theft, vandalism, trespassing, and escalations in physical confrontations; and
WHEREAS, the existing self-defense doctrine, while neutral on its face, may function differently in agricultural contexts, and thereby warrants legislative action; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to conduct a study on the need to update self-defense laws on agricultural lands; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to consult with representatives from state and county law enforcement agencies, agricultural stakeholders, and other relevant stakeholders when conducting its study; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to evaluate the consistency of the State's laws with those of other states, including with respect to duty-to-retreat provisions applicable to agricultural or rural lands; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2027; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Attorney General.
OFFERED BY:
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Report Title:
AG; Stand Your Ground; Self-Defense; Duty to Retreat; Agricultural Lands; Study