Hawaii
Policing for Profit
Hawaii earns a D- for its civil forfeiture laws
Low bar to forfeit and no conviction required
Poor protections for innocent third-party property owners
100% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement
State Forfeiture Laws
Hawaii’s civil forfeiture laws are among the nation’s worst, earning a D-. State law has a low standard of proof, requiring only that the government show by a preponderance of the evidence that property is tied to a crime. Furthermore, innocent owners bear the burden of proving that they had nothing to do with the alleged crime giving rise to the forfeiture. Most troubling, law enforcement has a large financial stake in forfeiture, receiving 100 percent of civil forfeiture proceeds: 25 percent goes to police, 25 percent to prosecuting attorneys and 50 percent to the attorney general.
Reporting on forfeiture activity in Hawaii is better than elsewhere but still incomplete. Hawaii’s Office of the Attorney General must submit annual forfeiture reports to the Legislature. The reports, which are also published online, include the seizure and forfeiture activity of police departments, the types of property seized and forfeited, and the attorney general’s expenditures of forfeited funds—but not expenditures by other agencies nor other key details, such as whether forfeitures were civil or criminal or whether related charges were filed. The attorney general reports show that Hawaii’s state forfeiture income remained relatively constant between fiscal years 2000 and 2010 but dropped significantly between fiscal years 2011 and 2013.
State Law Sources
| Standard of proof | Preponderance of the evidence. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 712A-12(8). |
| Innocent owner burden | Owner. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 712A-12(8). |
| Profit incentive | 100 percent (25 percent to police, 25 percent to prosecuting attorney, 50 percent to attorney general for various law enforcement projects). Haw. Rev. Stat. § 712A-16(2)–(4). |
| Reporting requirements | The Office of the Attorney General is required to aggregate agency forfeiture reports and submit them to the Legislature. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 712A-16(6). http://ag.hawaii.gov/publications/reports/reports-to-the-legislature/ |
Hawaii is the 7th best state for federal forfeiture, with over $20 million in Department of Justice equitable sharing proceeds from 2000 to 2013.
State Forfeiture Data: Reported Forfeiture Proceeds
| Year | Currency | Vehicles | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $555,715 | $343,550 | $224,071 | $1,123,336 |
| 2001 | $450,945 | $536,040 | $207,033 | $1,194,018 |
| 2002 | $503,762 | $564,173 | $547,110 | $1,615,045 |
| 2003 | $561,015 | $194,600 | $194,262 | $949,877 |
| 2004 | $737,668 | $457,792 | $461,625 | $1,657,085 |
| 2005 | $414,395 | $332,230 | $316,627 | $1,063,252 |
| 2006 | $698,035 | $460,855 | $334,709 | $1,493,599 |
| 2007 | $636,598 | $468,290 | $300,396 | $1,405,284 |
| 2008 | $492,398 | $353,907 | $627,362 | $1,473,667 |
| 2009 | $636,598 | $468,290 | $300,396 | $1,405,284 |
| 2010 | $622,497 | $441,865 | $733,513 | $1,797,875 |
| 2011 | $309,095 | $331,375 | $21,150 | $661,620 |
| 2012 | $131,127 | $273,555 | $131,129 | $535,811 |
| 2013 | $368,889 | $356,176 | $143,311 | $868,376 |
| Total | $7,118,737 | $5,582,698 | $4,542,694 | $17,244,129 |
| Average per year | $508,481 | $398,764 | $324,478 | $1,231,724 |
Federal Equitable Sharing
The Aloha State ranked seventh on equitable sharing, indicating that its law enforcement agencies do not participate in the Department of Justice’s program as heavily as do those in most other states. Between 2000 and 2013, Hawaii agencies brought in $20 million in DOJ equitable sharing proceeds, averaging $1.4 million each calendar year. Almost all of these proceeds—93 percent—were the result of joint task forces and investigations, equitable sharing activity left mostly untouched by former Attorney General Holder’s 2015 policy change. Finally, Hawaii law enforcement agencies also brought in $169,000 in annual Treasury Department equitable sharing proceeds, for a total of about $2.4 million during fiscal years 2000 to 2013.00 a year.
| Year | DOJ (calendar years) | Treasury (fiscal years) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $897,972 | $0 |
| 2001 | $851,441 | $187,000 |
| 2002 | $1,104,026 | $75,000 |
| 2003 | $2,301,702 | $5,000 |
| 2004 | $2,293,845 | $4,000 |
| 2005 | $1,976,669 | $188,000 |
| 2006 | $2,925,536 | $496,000 |
| 2007 | $2,230,865 | $184,000 |
| 2008 | $1,919,738 | $67,000 |
| 2009 | $640,898 | $22,000 |
| 2010 | $648,346 | $798,000 |
| 2011 | $565,622 | $237,000 |
| 2012 | $564,161 | $12,000 |
| 2013 | $1,337,168 | $92,000 |
| Total | $20,257,989 | $2,367,000 |
| Average Per Year | $1,446,999 | $169,071 |