Hawaii Revised Statutes: How State Law Is Organized
The Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) constitute the codified body of permanent law enacted by the Hawaii State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor. The HRS organizes Hawaii's statutory law into a structured hierarchy of divisions, titles, chapters, and sections, providing a navigable reference framework for courts, agencies, attorneys, and the public. Understanding how the HRS is organized is foundational to locating applicable law across every area of civil, criminal, administrative, and regulatory practice in the state.
Definition and scope
The Hawaii Revised Statutes represent the official compilation of Hawaii's general and permanent laws, maintained and published by the Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau under authority delegated by the Legislature. The HRS does not include session laws (Acts passed during a specific legislative session) in their unamended form — those are found in the Hawaii Session Laws, a separate publication. The HRS also excludes appropriations, temporary measures, and local or special acts that have not been codified into the permanent statutory framework.
The HRS is organized into five divisions, each subdivided into titles, chapters, and individual sections. As of the 2023 edition, the HRS contains more than 600 chapters spanning areas including courts, civil procedure, criminal law, taxation, public health, business regulation, and natural resources (Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau).
Scope boundaries are explicit: the HRS governs state-level statutory law only. Federal law — including U.S. Code provisions applicable in Hawaii, federal agency regulations, and constitutional interpretations by federal courts — falls outside the HRS framework. Practitioners working at the intersection of state and federal law, such as in immigration, bankruptcy, or federal civil rights claims, must consult federal sources independently. The regulatory context for Hawaii's legal system addresses how federal and state authority interact across these domains.
How it works
The HRS is structured in a four-level hierarchy:
- Divisions — Five broad groupings that organize titles thematically. Division 1 covers state sovereignty and government; Division 2 covers business; Division 3 covers property; Division 4 covers courts and judicial procedure; Division 5 covers crimes and punishments.
- Titles — Within each division, titles group related subject matter. Title 37, for example, covers Hawaii's environmental laws; Title 10 covers public officers and employees.
- Chapters — Each title contains chapters corresponding to specific enacted statutes. Chapter 291E, for instance, governs alcohol and drugs in relation to motor vehicle operation (HRS §291E).
- Sections — Individual statutes carry a section designation in the format Chapter-Number (e.g., HRS §571-11 governs jurisdiction of Family Courts).
The Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau is responsible for editing, codifying, and publishing new legislation into the HRS following each legislative session. Codification typically occurs after the close of the session, meaning a statute enacted in a given year may not appear in the official HRS until the updated edition is released.
The HRS is accessible in full through the Hawaii State Legislature's official website at capitol.hawaii.gov, which provides searchable access by title, chapter, and section number. The site also links to session laws that have not yet been codified.
Common scenarios
Legislative cross-referencing: Attorneys and researchers frequently must trace a statutory provision from its session law origin (an Act with a year and bill number) through to its HRS codification. A bill passed as Act 57, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, for example, would be located within the HRS by identifying the chapter into which it was codified — a step the Legislative Reference Bureau documents in codification tables.
Administrative rule interaction: Many HRS chapters authorize state agencies to promulgate administrative rules under their enabling statutes. Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR), compiled separately by the Lieutenant Governor's office under HRS Chapter 91 (the Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act), carry the regulatory force of law and supplement HRS chapters. Hawaii Administrative Rules and Agencies provides a parallel reference for that body of law.
Criminal code application: Defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges work directly with HRS Title 37 (Hawaii Penal Code, Chapters 701–713) when determining elements of offenses, defenses, and sentencing ranges. Chapter 706 governs sentencing, with specific provisions applicable to felony, misdemeanor, and petty misdemeanor classifications (HRS §706-660).
Civil litigation: HRS Title 36 (Civil Remedies and Defenses) and Chapter 603 (Circuit Courts) govern jurisdictional rules for civil matters. Litigants and practitioners referencing Hawaii civil procedure basics will find those rules grounded in specific HRS chapters that define court authority, limitations periods, and pleading requirements.
Decision boundaries
The HRS governs questions of state statutory authority — what the Legislature has enacted, amended, or repealed. It does not resolve questions of constitutional validity; those determinations are made by the Hawaii Supreme Court and the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals under the Hawaii Constitution and Legal Framework.
The HRS is distinct from court rules (such as the Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure or Hawaii Rules of Evidence), which are promulgated by the Hawaii Supreme Court under its rule-making authority and are not codified within the HRS itself. The Hawaii Rules of Evidence and procedural rule sets occupy a separate but parallel body of binding law.
County ordinances — enacted by the City and County of Honolulu, Maui County, Hawaii County, or Kauai County — also fall outside the HRS. County law governs local zoning, land use, and municipal services independently, and is not compiled in the HRS.
The starting point for navigating Hawaii's full legal framework, including courts, regulatory agencies, and the relationship between state and federal authority, is the main legal services authority index.
References
- Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau — official publisher of the Hawaii Revised Statutes
- Hawaii State Legislature — HRS Current — full text of the HRS by title and chapter
- Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act, HRS Chapter 91 — statutory framework for administrative rulemaking
- Hawaii Session Laws Archive — session-by-session record of enacted legislation prior to codification
- Office of the Lieutenant Governor — Hawaii Administrative Rules — compiled administrative rules supplementing HRS chapters