(a) No person shall:

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
For details, see Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-663

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-78

  • Addicted to the excessive use of intoxicating liquor: refers to one who has acquired the habit of using intoxicating liquor excessively to deprive oneself of reasonable self-control, a common drunkard, or a habitual drunkard. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Commission: means the liquor commission for the county within which such commission has jurisdiction under this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • 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
  • License: means any license granted under this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • licensed premises: means the building and property that houses the establishment for which a license has been or is proposed to be issued; provided that in the case of class 12 hotel license, "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
  • Licensee: includes also all agents, servants, and employees of the holder of a license. 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
  • Under the influence of liquor: means that the person concerned has consumed intoxicating liquor sufficient to impair at the particular time under inquiry the person's normal mental faculties or ability to care for oneself and guard against casualty, or sufficient to substantially impair at the time under inquiry that clearness of intellect and control of oneself which the person would otherwise normally possess. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
(1) Consume any liquor on any public highway, except as permitted in section intoxicating liquor while a passenger in a motor vehicle, storage of opened container containing intoxicating liquor” class=”unlinked-ref” datatype=”S” sessionyear=”2022″ statecd=”HI”>291-3.4;
(2) Consume any liquor on any public sidewalk, including any sidewalk within a public housing project;
(3) Consume any liquor on any common area of a public housing project; or
(4) Possess or keep, while on any sidewalk or common area within a public housing project, any bottle, can, or other receptacle containing any intoxicating liquor that has been opened, that has a broken seal, or the contents of which have been partially removed.

For purposes of this subsection:

“Common area” means roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, stairways, fire escapes, entrances and exits of the building or buildings, basements, yards, gardens, recreational facilities, parking areas, storage spaces, and other parts of the project normally in common use or other areas designated by the Hawaii public housing authority.

“Public housing project” means any state or federal public housing project as defined in § 356D-1 or 356D-91 or a state low-income housing project as defined in § 356D-51.

(b) At no time under any circumstances shall any licensee or its employee:

(1) Sell, serve, or furnish any liquor to, or allow the consumption of any liquor by:

(A) Any minor;
(B) Any person at the time under the influence of liquor;
(C) Any person known to the licensee to be addicted to the excessive use of intoxicating liquor; or
(D) Any person for consumption in any vehicle that is licensed to travel on public highways;

provided that the consumption or sale of liquor to a minor shall not be deemed to be a violation of this subsection if, in making the sale or allowing the consumption of any liquor by a minor, the licensee was misled by the appearance of the minor and the attending circumstances into honestly believing that the minor was of legal age and the licensee acted in good faith; provided further that it shall be incumbent upon the licensee to prove that the licensee so acted in good faith;

(2) Permit any liquor to be consumed on the premises of the licensee or on any premises connected therewith, whether there purchased or not, except as permitted by the terms of its license;
(3) Permit any liquor to be sold or served by any person eighteen to twenty years of age except in licensed establishments where selling or serving the intoxicating liquor is part of the minor’s employment, and where there is proper supervision of these minor employees to ensure that the minors shall not consume the intoxicating liquor;
(4) Permit any liquor to be sold or served by any person below the age of eighteen years upon any licensed premises, except in individually specified licensed establishments found to be otherwise suitable by the liquor commission in which an approved program of job training and employment for dining room waiters and waitresses is being conducted in cooperation with the University of Hawaii, the state community college system, or a federally sponsored personnel development and training program, under arrangements that ensure proper control and supervision of employees;
(5) Knowingly permit any person under the influence of liquor or disorderly person to be or remain in or on the licensed premises;
(6) Fail to timely prevent or suppress any violent, quarrelsome, disorderly, lewd, immoral, or unlawful conduct of any person on the premises; or
(7) Receive from a person, as payment or as a consideration for liquor, any personal or household goods, including clothing and food, or any implements of trade. Any person violating this paragraph shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished as provided in section 281-102.