§710-1016 Impersonating a public servant. (1) A person commits the offense of impersonating a public servant if the person pretends to be a public servant other than a law enforcement officer and engages in any conduct in that capacity with intent to deceive anyone.
(2) It is no defense to a prosecution under this section that the office the person pretended to hold did not in fact exist.
(3) Impersonating a public servant is a misdemeanor. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L 1984, c 139, §2; am L 2001, c 91, §4]
Cross References
Harassment by impersonation, see §711-1106.6.
COMMENTARY ON §710-1016
The object of this section is to prevent imposition on people by the false pretense of authority.
Previous Hawaii law recognized the offense of false personation of a government officer and imposed a possible maximum sentence of one year's imprisonment or a fine of $100.[1] The Code authorizes the same imprisonment, but a greater fine, for misdemeanors. Excluded from part II are offenses involving falsity which borders on perjury, e.g., false application or consent to marriage, false impersonation before a court.[2] These problems are dealt with directly in part VI of this chapter. Statutory protection for private fraternal organizations, by making unauthorized display of the badge or insignia of the organization a crime, is eliminated.[3] Also eliminated is the questionable distinction between the penalty which attaches to the unauthorized wearing of a police officer's uniform or badge and that which attaches to the unauthorized wearing of a uniform or badge which resembles a police officer's.4 Both situations are covered equally under this section provided other requirements are met.
SUPPLEMENTAL COMMENTARY ON §710-1016
Act 139, Session Laws 1984, amended this section to exclude the offense of impersonating a peace officer, which offense was made a class C felony.
Case Notes
Trial court properly found defendant guilty of impersonating a public servant under this section where defendant wrote and signed a letter to defendant's attorney, in the name of defendant's supervisor, requesting the attorney to ask the presiding judge to drop contempt charges against defendant. 94 H. 440 (App.), 16 P.3d 845 (2000).
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§710-1016 Commentary:
1. H.R.S. §742-2.
2. See H.R.S. §742-1.
3. Id. §742-5.
4. Compare id. §§742-3 with 742-4.
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