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HRS §803-9

Rights of a person arrested for examination

This section protects people arrested for examination. It gives them the right to see their lawyer or family, to send a message, and to be released or charged within 48 hours. Police cannot question them before they have a fair chance to talk to their lawyer or family.

courts

The statute, as written — Examination after arrest; rights of arrested person

It shall be unlawful in any case of arrest for examination: (1) To deny to the person so arrested the right of seeing, at reasonable intervals and for a reasonable time at the place of the person's detention, counsel or a member of the arrested person's family; (2) To unreasonably refuse or fail to make a reasonable effort, where the arrested person so requests and prepays the cost of the message, to send a telephone, cable, or wireless message through a police officer or another than the arrested person to the counsel or member of the arrested person's family; (3) To deny to counsel, whether retained by the arrested person or a member of the arrested person's family, or to a member of the arrested person's family, the right to see or otherwise communicate with the arrested person for a reasonable period at the place of the arrested person's detention: (A) At any time for a first communication after the arrest; and (B) At reasonable intervals thereafter; (4) In case the person arrested has requested that the person see an attorney or member of the person's family, to examine the person before the person has had a fair opportunity to see and consult with the attorney or member of the person's family; (5) To fail, within forty-eight hours of the arrest of a person on suspicion of having committed a crime, either to release or to charge the arrested person with a crime and take the arrested person before a qualified magistrate for examination. [PC 1869, c 49, §9; am L 1915, c 25, §1; RL 1925, §3975; am L 1927, c 261, §1; RL 1935, §5408; am L 1941, c 168, §1; RL 1945, §10709; am L 1953, c 185, §1; RL 1955, §255-9; HRS §708-9; ren L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; gen ch 1985; am L 2015, c 35, §31]
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.