(a) Act 222, Session Laws of Hawaii 1978, began the process of decriminalizing certain traffic offenses, not of a serious nature, to the status of violations. In response to a request by the legislature, the judiciary prepared a report in 1987 that recommended, among other things, further decriminalization of traffic offenses, elimination of most traffic arraignments, disposition of uncontested violations by mail, and informal hearings where the violation or the proposed penalty is questioned. The legislature finds that further decriminalization of certain traffic offenses and streamlining of the handling of those traffic cases will achieve a more expeditious system for the judicial processing of traffic infractions. The system of processing traffic infractions established by this chapter will:

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 291D-1

  • Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Hearing: means a proceeding conducted by the district court pursuant to § 291D-8 at which the person to whom a notice of traffic infraction or notice of emergency period infraction was issued either admits to the infraction, contests the notice of traffic infraction or notice of emergency period infraction, or admits to the traffic infraction or emergency period infraction but offers an explanation to mitigate the monetary assessment imposed. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291D-2
  • Notice of traffic infraction: includes a notice of parking infraction. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291D-2
  • Traffic infraction: means all violations of statutes, ordinances, or rules relating to traffic movement and control, including parking, standing, equipment, and pedestrian offenses, for which the prescribed penalties do not include imprisonment and that are not otherwise specifically excluded from coverage of this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291D-2
(1) Eliminate the long and tedious arraignment proceeding for a majority of traffic matters;
(2) Facilitate and encourage the resolution of many traffic infractions through the payment of a monetary assessment;
(3) Speed the disposition of contested cases through a hearing, similar to small claims proceedings, in which the rules of evidence will not apply and the court will consider as evidence the notice of traffic infraction, applicable police reports, or other written statements by the police officer who issued the notice, any other relevant written material, and any evidence or statements by the person contesting the notice of traffic infraction;
(4) Dispense in most cases with the need for witnesses, including law enforcement officers, to be present and for the participation of the prosecuting attorney;
(5) Allow judicial, prosecutorial, and law enforcement resources to be used more efficiently and effectively; and
(6) Save the taxpayers money and reduce their frustration with the judicial system by simplifying the traffic court process.

The legislature further finds that this chapter will not require expansion of the current traffic division of the district courts, but will achieve greater efficiency through more effective use of existing resources of the district courts.

(b) The legislature finds that the pandemic related to the coronavirus disease 2019 necessitated the imposition of emergency period rules in an attempt to control the spread of the disease in the State. The thousands of violations of the emergency period rules caused an examination of the ability to impose infractions for lesser offenses as an alternative to using the Penal Code and to allow for more efficient use of the judicial system. The system of processing traffic infractions under this chapter was enacted in 1993 and has provided a useful mechanism for handling offenses deemed as infractions and is well-suited to certain types of violations of emergency period rules that are designated infractions by the governor or mayor under the state’s emergency management laws.

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