← Back to search
HRS §844D-63Protection from lawsuits for DNA and fingerprint collection
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗This section protects people who collect DNA samples or fingerprints from being sued or charged with a crime if they follow proper medical or professional procedures. It also protects law enforcement and the department from lawsuits for mistakes in confirming someone's status or entering information in the database. If the department or police don't follow the rules, it doesn't cancel an arrest, plea, conviction, or other legal outcome.
employees
The statute, as written — Limitations on civil and criminal liability
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.
(a) Persons authorized to draw blood or obtain samples or print impressions under this chapter for the data bank or database shall not be civilly or criminally liable either for withdrawing blood when done in accordance with medically accepted procedures, or for obtaining buccal swab samples by scraping inner cheek cells of the mouth, or print impressions when performed in accordance with standard professional practices. (b) There shall be no civil or criminal cause of action against any law enforcement agency or the department, or any employee thereof, for a mistake in confirming a person's or sample's qualifying status for inclusion within the database or data bank or in placing an entry in a data bank or a database. (c) The failure of the department or local law enforcement to comply with this chapter shall not invalidate an arrest, plea, conviction, or disposition.
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.