§846E-3 Access to registration information. (a) Registration information shall be disclosed as follows:

(1) The information shall be disclosed to law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes;

(2) The information shall be disclosed to government agencies conducting confidential background checks; and

(3) The attorney general and any county police department shall release public information as provided in subsection (b) concerning a specific person required to register under this chapter; provided that the identity of a victim of an offense that requires registration under this chapter shall not be released.

(b) For purposes of this section, "public information" means:

(1) Name, prior names, nicknames and pseudonyms, and all aliases used by the covered offender or under which the covered offender has been known;

(2) The year of the covered offender's date of birth and the year of the covered offender's alias dates of birth;

(3) A physical description of the covered offender, including a description of particular identifying characteristics such as scars or tattoos;

(4) The actual address where the covered offender resides or any current, temporary address where the covered offender resides or, if an address is not available, a description of any place or area in which the covered offender resides for at least thirty nonconsecutive days within a sixty-day period, and, for each address or place where the covered offender resides, how long the covered offender has resided there;

(5) The actual address or description of the place or area where the covered offender is staying for more than ten days, if other than the stated residence, and the actual length of time of the stay;

(6) The future actual address, if known, where the covered offender is planning to reside, if other than the stated residence;

(7) The street name and zip code of the covered offender's current locations of employment, including information for any place where the covered offender works as a volunteer or otherwise works without remuneration;

(8) For covered offenders who may not have a fixed place of employment, a description of the places where such a covered offender works;

(9) Professional licenses held by the covered offender;

(10) Names and actual addresses of current and known future educational institutions with which the covered offender is affiliated as a faculty member, an employee, or a student, and the starting and ending dates of any such affiliation;

(11) The year, make, model, color, and license number of all vehicles, including automobiles, watercrafts, and aircrafts, currently owned or operated by the covered offender, excluding vehicles operated exclusively for purposes of work;

(12) A statement listing all covered offenses for which the covered offender has been convicted or found unfit to proceed or acquitted pursuant to chapter 704;

(13) Judgment of conviction, judgment of acquittal, or judicial determination of unfitness to proceed documenting the criminal offense or offenses for which the covered offender is registered;

(14) The text, or an electronic link to the text, of the provision of law defining the criminal offense or offenses for which the covered offender is registered; and

(15) A recent photograph of the covered offender.

The identity of any victim of a sexual offense shall not be disclosed and any documentation containing such information shall be redacted to prevent disclosure.

(c) To facilitate community notification, after a covered offender registers or updates a registration, the attorney general may provide public information in the registry about that offender to any organization, company, or individual who requests such notification pursuant to procedures established by the attorney general through rules adopted pursuant to chapter 91.

(d) A covered offender may seek correction of erroneous public information by petitioning the attorney general to make the correction. If the covered offender is not satisfied with the decision of the attorney general on the request for correction, the covered offender may appeal the decision pursuant to chapter 91.

(e) Public access to a covered offender's public information shall be permitted with regard to each covered offender beginning the next working day following the filing of a judgment of conviction, a finding of unfitness to proceed or an acquittal due to mental disease, disorder, or defect, for a covered offense, or as soon thereafter as is practical. When a notice of appeal has been filed, the public information shall note that the covered offender has filed a notice of appeal. The public information shall be removed upon the reversal of the covered offender's conviction or the granting of a pardon to the covered offender.

(f) Public access authorized by this section shall be provided by both public internet access and on-site public access; provided that on-site public access shall be provided for each covered offender at the Hawaii criminal justice data center and at one or more designated police stations in each county, to be designated by the attorney general, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays.

(g) Public access to the public information for each covered offender shall be permitted while the covered offender is subject to sex offender registration, except that after forty years have elapsed after release or sentencing, whichever is later, a covered offender may petition the court in a civil proceeding to terminate public access. In the civil proceeding to terminate public access, the State shall be represented by the attorney general; provided that the attorney general, with the prosecuting agency's consent, may designate the prosecuting agency that prosecuted the covered offender for the most recent covered offense within the State to represent the State. For covered offenders who have never been convicted of a covered offense within the State of Hawaii, the attorney general shall represent the State; provided that the attorney general, with the prosecuting agency's consent, may designate the prosecuting agency for the county in which the covered offender resides to represent the State. The court may order this termination upon substantial evidence and more than proof by a preponderance of the evidence that:

(1) The covered offender has had no new convictions for covered offenses;

(2) The covered offender is very unlikely to commit a covered offense ever again; and

(3) Public access to the covered offender's public information will not assist in protecting the safety of the public or any member thereof;

provided that a denial by the court for relief pursuant to a petition under this section shall preclude the filing of another petition for five years from the date of the last denial.

(h) If a covered offender has been convicted of only one covered offense and that covered offense is a misdemeanor, the covered offender shall not be subject to the public access requirements set forth in this section.

(i) The following message shall be posted at both the site of internet access and on-site public access locations:

"Information regarding covered offenders is permitted pursuant to chapter 846E. Public access to this information is based solely on the fact of each offender's criminal conviction and is not based on an estimate of the offender's level of dangerousness. By allowing public access to this information, the State makes no representation as to whether the covered offenders listed are dangerous. Any person who uses the information in this registry to injure, harass, or commit a criminal act against any person included in the registry may be subject to criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both."

(j) The public access provisions of this section shall apply to all covered offenders without regard to the date of conviction.

(k) "Conviction" as used in this section means:

(1) A judgment on the verdict, or a finding of guilt after a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, excluding the adjudication of a minor;

(2) A finding of unfitness to proceed resulting in the release of the covered offender into the community, excluding such a finding as to a minor; or

(3) An acquittal due to a physical or mental disease, disorder, or defect pursuant to chapter 704 resulting in the release of the covered offender into the community, excluding such acquittal as to a minor. [L 1997, c 316, pt of §2; am L 1998, c 194, §3; am L 2002, c 234, §2; am L 2003, c 62, §5; am L 2004, c 59, §3; am L 2005, c 45, §5; am L 2006, c 106, §3; am L 2008, c 80, §6]

Case Notes

Although §378-2.5 provided that an employer may inquire about and consider an individual's criminal conviction record for a period that does not exceed the most recent ten years, defendant, a subcontractor that conducted pre-employment background checks for manager of storage facility, was not precluded from disclosing the manager's registered sex offender status. This section required public disclosure of information about covered sex offenders. 154 F. Supp. 3d 981 (2015).

As this section operated to deprive defendant of a protected liberty interest and provided defendant with neither notice nor an opportunity to be heard prior to notifying the public of defendant's status as a convicted sex offender, this section denied defendant due process under article I, §5 of the Hawaii constitution; this section is thus void and unenforceable. 97 H. 285, 36 P.3d 1255 (2001).