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HRS §113-3

State must pay owner costs if land taking fails

If the State tries to take your property for a project using federal money, but the taking fails or is dropped, the State must pay you back for reasonable lawyer, appraiser, and engineer fees you actually paid because of that case.

landowners

The statute, as written — Property not acquired; reimbursement of owner

Where a condemnation proceeding is instituted by the State to acquire real property for use in any project or program in which federal or federal-aid funds are used and (1) the final judgment is that the real property cannot be acquired by condemnation or (2) the proceeding is abandoned, the State shall pay the owner of any right, title or interest in such real property such sums as will, in the opinion of the State, reimburse such owner for the owner's reasonable attorney, appraisal and engineering fees actually incurred because of the condemnation proceedings.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.