Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 651-4

  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • police officer: means the director of law enforcement or the director's duly authorized representative, any chief of police or subordinate police officer, or an independent civil process server on the list maintained by the department of law enforcement pursuant to section 353C-1. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651-1
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.

Before the writ of attachment shall issue, the plaintiff, or someone in the plaintiff’s behalf, shall execute and file with the clerk a bond or undertaking with two or more sureties, in a sum at least double the amount for which the plaintiff demands judgment, and in no case less than $50 in a district court, or $300 in any other court, conditioned that the plaintiff will prosecute the plaintiff’s action without delay, and will pay all costs that may be adjudged to the defendant, and all damages which the defendant may sustain by reason of the attachment, not exceeding the amount specified in such bond or undertaking as the penalty thereof, should the same be wrongfully, oppressively, or maliciously sued out, and in case the defendant be declared a bankrupt, pay all charges, damages, and expenses incurred by any police officer by reason of the attachment. With the bond or undertaking, there shall also be filed the affidavits of the sureties, as provided in § 78-20. But no such bond shall be required when the plaintiff is the State or any officer or agent of the State or any municipality suing for its use or benefit. Subject to § 651-5, in any case where the amount for which the plaintiff demands judgment is in excess of $50,000, the court may, upon motion of the plaintiff, enter an order permitting a bond, conditioned as herein provided, in a sum as fixed in the order of less than the amount hereinabove set forth; provided that the bond shall in any event be not less than an amount equal to one and one-half times the value of the property of the defendant proposed to be attached as shown to the satisfaction of the court entering the order.