(a) Any adult who provides or purchases liquor for consumption or use by a person under twenty-one years of age shall be guilty of the offense under section intoxicating liquor to a person under the age of twenty-one” class=”unlinked-ref” datatype=”S” sessionyear=”2022″ statecd=”HI”>712-1250.5.

Attorney's Note

Under the Hawaii Revised Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
misdemeanorup to 1 year$2,000
petty misdemeanorup to 30 daysup to $1,000
For details, see Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-663

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-101.5

  • Alcohol: means the product of distillation of any fermented liquid, whether rectified or not, whatever may be the origin thereof, and includes synthetic ethyl alcohol, but not denatured or other alcohol which is considered nonpotable under the customs laws of the United States. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • intoxicating liquor: includes alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, okolehao, sake, beer, ale, porter, and wine; and also includes, in addition to the foregoing, any spirituous, vinous, malt or fermented liquor, liquids, and compounds, whether medicated, proprietary, patented, or not, in whatever form and of whatever constituency and by whatever name called, containing one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume, which are fit for use or may be used or readily converted for use for beverage purposes. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • License: means any license granted under this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Minor: means any person below the age of twenty-one years. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Person: means and includes natural persons, associations, copartnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations, and also includes any agent, servant, and employee of such person. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • premises: includes the hotel premises; provided further that in the case of a class 15 condominium hotel license, "premises" includes units, as defined in § 514B-3, that are used to provide transient lodging for periods of less than thirty days under a written contract with the owner or owners of each unit in, and common elements for access purposes as established by the declaration of condominium property regime of, the condominium hotel; and provided further that if an establishment is in a retail shopping complex the businesses of which have formed a merchants association, "premises" means the establishment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Public place: means any publicly owned property or privately owned property open for public use or to which the public is invited for entertainment or business purposes. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • to sell: includes to solicit and receive an order for; to have or keep or offer or expose for sale; to deliver for value or in any other way than purely gratuitously; to peddle; to keep with intent to sell; to traffic in; and the word "sale" includes every act of selling as herein defined. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
(b) No minor shall consume or purchase liquor and no minor shall consume or have liquor in the minor’s possession or custody in any public place, public gathering, or public amusement, at any public beach or public park, or in any motor vehicle on a public highway; provided that notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, this subsection shall not apply to:

(1) Possession or custody of liquor by a minor in the course of delivery, pursuant to the direction of the minor’s employer lawfully engaged in business necessitating the delivery;
(2) Possession, custody, or consumption of liquor by a minor in connection with the minor’s authorized participation in religious ceremonies requiring such possession, custody, or consumption; or
(3) Any person between the ages of eighteen and twenty, who is participating in a controlled purchase as part of a law enforcement activity or a study authorized by the department of health to determine the level of incidence of liquor sales to minors.
(c) No minor shall falsify any identification or use any false identification or identification of another person or of a fictitious person for the purpose of buying or attempting to buy liquor or for the purpose of obtaining employment to sell or serve liquor on licensed premises.
(d) Any person under age eighteen who violates this section shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the family court. Any person age eighteen to twenty-one who violates subsection (b) or (c) shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor. The court shall order that any person under twenty-one years of age found to be in violation of this section shall have, in addition to any other disposition or sentencing provision permitted by law, the person’s license to operate a motor vehicle, or the person’s ability to obtain a license to operate a motor vehicle, suspended as follows:

(1) For licensed drivers, the driver’s license shall be suspended for not less than one hundred and eighty days with exceptions to allow, at the discretion of the sentencing court, driving to and from school, school-sponsored activities, and employment;
(2) For persons with a provisional license, the provisional license shall be suspended for not less than one hundred and eighty days with exceptions to allow, at the discretion of the sentencing court, driving to and from school, school-sponsored activities, and employment;
(3) For persons with an instruction permit, the instruction permit shall be suspended for not less than one hundred and eighty days with exceptions to allow, at the discretion of the sentencing court, driving to and from school, school-sponsored activities, and employment; or
(4) For persons not licensed to drive, eligibility to obtain a driver’s license, provisional license, or instruction permit shall be suspended until the age of seventeen or for one hundred and eighty days, at the discretion of the court; and
(5) Chapter 571 notwithstanding, in any case where a person under the age of eighteen violates this section, the family court judge may suspend the driver’s license, provisional license, or instruction permit, or suspend the eligibility to obtain a driver’s license, provisional license, or instruction permit in accordance with this section;

provided that the requirement to provide proof of financial responsibility pursuant to § 287-20 shall not be based upon a sentence imposed under paragraphs (1) and (2). In addition, all persons whether or not licensed, found to be in violation of this section shall be sentenced to seventy-five hours of community service work, and an eight to twelve hour program of alcohol education and counseling the costs of which shall be borne by the offender or the offender’s parent or guardian.

(e) As used in this section, “consume” or “consumption” includes the ingestion of liquor.