§290-8 Derelict vehicle. A vehicle shall be deemed a derelict vehicle by the administrative head of the county agency designated to carry out section 290-1, or by the executive director or a representative of the executive director of the Hawaii public housing authority in the case of a vehicle that has been abandoned on property owned, managed, or administered by the authority, if a part has been removed or material damage to the vehicle has rendered the vehicle inoperable and one of the following conditions exists:

(1) The vehicle is registered for the current registration period and the registered and legal owners no longer reside at the addresses on record with the county director of finance;

(2) The vehicle has been registered for the current or previous registration period and the registered and legal owners disclaim ownership, or a notice of transfer has been submitted by the registered and legal owners and recorded with the director of finance and the new owner has not transferred the title or registration into the new owner's name within thirty days of release;

(3) The vehicle identification number and license plates have been removed so as to nullify efforts to locate or identify the current registered and legal owners;

(4) The vehicle has not been registered for the previous twelve month period; or

(5) The vehicle registration records of the county director of finance contain no record that the vehicle has ever been registered in the county.

Prior to authorizing the removal of a derelict vehicle, the administrative head of the county agency designated to carry out section 290-1 or the executive director or a representative of the executive director of the Hawaii public housing authority in the case of vehicles that have been abandoned on property owned, managed, or operated by the authority, shall notify the county chief of police only if the vehicle is reported stolen or otherwise needed for police investigation. [L 1971, c 28, pt of §1; am L 1983, c 96, §1; am L 1985, c 21, §1; am L 1987, c 77, §1; am L 1992, c 238, §2; am L 1996, c 58, §1; am L 1997, c 350, §14; am L 2005, c 196, §26(a); am L 2006, c 147, §2 and c 180, §16; am L 2018, c 48, §5]

Case Notes

Plaintiff asserted that this section and §290-9 were unconstitutional and that the municipality was subject to liability under 42 U.S.C. §1983 on the grounds that an ordinance implemented the sections and therefore constituted an official policy statement by the municipality; no basis found for imposing liability on the municipality under 42 U.S.C. §1983. 333 F. Supp. 2d 942.

This section and §290-9 are not facially unconstitutional except for condition (6) set forth in this section, which allows for the immediate disposition, without notice, of derelict cars older than ten years and unconstitutionally violates the requirements of due process. 333 F. Supp. 2d 942.