Criminal penalties and citation process for code violations

(a) General. Any person, firm, or corporation violating this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor, and each such person is guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or portion thereof during which any violation of this chapter is committed, continued, or permitted, and upon conviction of any such violation, such person shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $2,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both fine and imprisonment. (b) Procedure on arrest—summons or citation. (1) Any officer or inspector designated by the building official, who has been deputized by the chief of police as a special officer for the purpose of enforcing the building, plumbing, electrical, or housing codes (hereinafter referred to as “authorized personnel”), may arrest without warrant alleged violators by issuing a summons or citation in accordance with the procedure specified in this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed as barring such authorized personnel from initiating prosecution by warrant or such other judicial process as is permitted by statute or rule of court. (2) Procedure on arrest. Any authorized personnel designated by the building official, upon making an arrest for a violation of the building, plumbing, electrical, or housing codes, may take the name and address of the alleged violator and shall issue to such person in writing a summons or citation hereinafter described, notifying such person to answer the complaint to be entered against the person at a place and at a time provided in the summons or citation. (c) Summons or citation. (1) There shall be provided for use by authorized personnel a form of summons or citation for use in citing violators of the building, plumbing, electrical, or housing codes that does not mandate the physical arrest of such violators. The form and content of such summons or citation shall be as adopted or prescribed by the administrative judge of the district court and shall be printed on a form commensurate with the form of other summonses or citations used in modern methods of arrest, so designed to include all necessary information to make the same valid within the laws and regulations of the State of Hawaii and the City and County of Honolulu. (2) In every case when a citation is issued, the original of the same shall be given to the violator; provided that the administrative judge of the district court may prescribe the giving to the violator of a carbon copy of the citation and provide for the disposition of the original and any other copies. (3) Every citation shall be consecutively numbered and each carbon copy shall bear the number of its respective original. )