HRS §1-2
When a law takes effect after being printed
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗A written law does not apply to anyone until it is printed and made public, unless the legislature says otherwise. But certain money-related laws, like budgets, loans, pensions, and franchises, take effect on their own terms without needing to be printed first.
everyone
The statute, as written — - 2 Certain laws not obligatory until published
A copy, taken August 20, 2026. The version published by the Legislature is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
No written law, unless otherwise specifically provided by legislative enactment, except general or special appropriation acts, loan fund acts, pension acts, and franchise acts, shall be obligatory without first being printed and made public. General or special appropriation acts, loan fund acts, pension acts, and franchise acts, whether affecting state funds or the funds of county or other municipal subdivisions or commissions, shall become operative according to their respective terms. [CC 1859, §1; RL 1925, §3; RL 1935, §3; am L 1935, c 10, §2; RL 1945, §3; RL 1955, §1-3; HRS §1-2]
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.