The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing a new civil administrative system that proponents say could better handle non-criminal violations of laws governing natural and cultural resources.

Right now, someone cited for violations of these laws either ends up in court or before the DLNR.

"They feel like they're being harassed," said Bin Li, the agency's administrative proceedings coordinator. "People are not happy about it."

The range of potential violations is large, including net violations, camping permits, fishing regulations and taking of trees or other plants from protected areas.

Li said some of these violations sound minor but can have serious consequences, such as illegal nets that have resulted in the deaths of endangered Hawaiian monk seals.

He does expect some opposition from people who see the proposed system as a way for government to levy fines against its citizens.

Laura H. Thielen, DLNR chairperson, has told her staff that she sees the system, which would respond to violations with appropriate fines, as a way to encourage compliance while borrowing from a theory of law enforcement known as "Broken Window Syndrome."

The idea is that failure to enforce laws punishing the breaking of windows — or other minor, frequent bad behavior — leads to the conclusion that there is no enforcement at all, and more serious crimes follow.

Thielen said that approach can also help protect natural resources. Under the civil penalty system, the Land Board would identify minor infractions and approve a schedule of fines.

When there's a violation, the department could then issue a civil citation and give the offender three options: Pay the fine and be done with the matter, request mediation, or request a contested case hearing.

Gary Moniz, chief of enforcement for the DLNR, thinks the civil penalty system could help improve compliance. The civil actions could apply to a wide variety of violations, some of which are enforced and others that aren't, because of understaffing.

Moniz said that the more people comply, the more his staff can focus on more serious violations or reaching out to encourage people to comply where they'll do the most good.

Moniz said he doesn't have easy access to recent statistics that indicate which types of violations might be the best for the new civil penalty system.

So far, state officials are getting some opposition from people who see the plan as yet another way for government to try to fine residents.

The initial reaction has been a lot of questions about the proposal, but some support.

One Maui resident wrote an e-mail to Li's staff last month complaining that the citations now given by DLNR require a court appearance. That costs everyone time and money, the resident wrote.

The Maui man said that because such violations put residents in court — where they are at risk of having a misdemeanor crime on their records — it makes people like him more determined to challenge such citations.

"I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to paying a fine if I was found guilty but to have a misdemeanor crime on my record ... I will fight this one 'til the end," he wrote.

"Last time I went to court there were 10 people there for things that aren't criminal, like not having a dog on a leash or diving without a flag. And that's just one day."