§710-1017 Tampering with a government record. (1) A person commits the offense of tampering with a government record if:

(a) The person, acting knowingly, falsely makes a purported government record, or falsely completes or alters, or falsely makes an entry in, a government record or a true copy thereof;

(b) The person knowingly presents or uses a government record or a purported government record, or a true copy thereof, knowing that it has been falsely made, completed, or altered, or that a false entry has been made therein, with intent that it be taken as genuine;

(c) The person knowingly records, registers, or files, or offers for recordation, registration, or filing, in a governmental office or agency, a statement, document, or record, in written, printed, or electronic form, which has been falsely made, completed, or altered, or in which a false entry has been made, or which contains a false statement or false information; or

(d) Knowing the person lacks the authority to do so:

(i) The person intentionally destroys, mutilates, conceals, removes, or otherwise impairs the availability of any government records; or

(ii) The person refuses to deliver up a government record in the person's possession upon proper request of a public servant entitled to receive such record for examination or other purposes.

(2) For the purpose of this section, "government record" means all records created, issued, received, or kept by any governmental office or agency or required by law to be kept by others for the information of the government.

(3) Tampering with government records is a misdemeanor. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L 1991, c 145, §2; gen ch 1993; am L 2014, c 33, §5]

Revision Note

In subsection (1)(a) and (b), "or" deleted pursuant to §23G-15.

COMMENTARY ON §710-1017

This section is intended to penalize conduct which undermines confidence in the accuracy of public records. The accuracy of public records is essential to efficient public administration and, beyond the immediate context of public administration, the government has an interest in protecting public confidence in its records.

This section does not require that the misuse of the public record be with intent to defraud another, i.e., to injure an interest which has value, as do the sections on forgery. Nor does this section require that the information made part of the public record, or offered for recordation, registration, or filing, be under oath or sworn to, as do the sections on perjury and related offenses. Those offenses, however, do complement the offense of tampering with public records, but they deal directly, and in a more precise context, with the aggravated circumstances presented.

This section is also addressed to the problem of access to public records. Obviously, acts of destruction and concealment impair the efficiency of public administration. Subsection (1)(d)(i) is intended primarily to cover acts of destruction, concealment, or impairment by individuals vis-a-vis the government, whereas subsection (1)(d)(ii) is intended primarily to cover the situation where a public servant refuses to surrender records to another public servant when the public servant has the duty to do so. Both clauses of this subsection are, however, worded broadly in order to cover acts of destruction, concealment, or retention outside their areas of immediate concern.

Subsection (2) is intended to be inclusive and to cover not only records traditionally considered "public" but also information kept for the benefit of the government, such as medical prescription records.

Previous Hawaii law on tampering with public records is similar to the code,1 however the Code covers acts of tampering not covered under prior law, clarifies the acts that are covered, and dispenses with the former, archaic requirement of "malice" as it relates to this offense.

SUPPLEMENTAL COMMENTARY ON §710-1017

Act 33, Session Laws 2014, amended this section to apply to electronic statements, documents, or records. The legislature found that many government and business records are kept in electronic form. However, the current law prohibited only the alteration of records kept in written form. In 2000, Hawaii adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, chapter 489E, to recognize the need to establish the legal validity of electronic records, signatures, and contracts. Act 33 protected consumers by making relevant criminal offenses also applicable to electronic statements, documents, or records. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 3330, House Standing Committee Report No. 260-14.

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§710-1017 Commentary:

1. H.R.S. §753-3.