§846E-3 Access to registration information. (a) Registration information shall be disclosed as follows:
(b) For purposes of this section, "public information" means:
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:
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 and was not committed against a minor, 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:
(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; am L 2025, c 149, §3]