Hawaii License Plate Reader Laws

Status at a glance

No ALPR statute

We found no section of the Hawaii Revised Statutes that regulates how police use ALPRs, how long they keep the data, or who they share it with. The only codified mention we found is HRS § 291J-5.5, enacted in 2025. That section bars photo red light imaging detector systems from using facial recognition or biometric identification technology. Subsection (b) then says the section “shall not apply to: (1) Automated license plate reader systems.”

So the statute mentions ALPRs only to exempt them from that ban. It doesn’t authorize, limit or set rules for ALPR use. Without a statute, the main legal limits in a Hawaii case are constitutional, plus whatever the agency’s own policy says.

Hawaii’s broader privacy protection

In State v. Rodrigues (Haw. Oct. 12, 2012), the Hawaii Supreme Court quoted its earlier decision in State v. Dixon (1996) for the point that article I, section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution “provides broader protection than the [F]ourth [A]mendment to the United States Constitution because it also protects against unreasonable invasions of privacy.” The court also quoted State v. Tanaka (1985): article I, § 7 “recognizes an expectation of privacy beyond the parallel provisions in the Federal Bill of Rights.”

Rodrigues wasn’t about ALPRs. It concerned the inevitable-discovery exception to the exclusionary rule. The court held that the trial court properly suppressed the evidence because the State failed to meet the clear-and-convincing standard Hawaii applies to that exception. The court tied that standard to the state constitution’s “added protection against governmental invasions of privacy.”

We haven’t found a Hawaii decision applying article I, section 7 to ALPRs. For the federal questions, see is ALPR a search? and the mosaic theory.

One agency’s policy: Honolulu

Honolulu Police Department Policy No. 4.57 is one agency’s policy, not state law. Other Hawaii agencies may have different rules or none. The policy text is dated April 24, 2023, and says it was first issued February 11, 2014. Key points:

• Use. “No sworn or civilian member shall use or authorize the use of any ALPR system or ALPR database information for any reasons other than official law enforcement purposes.”
• Hits. “A hit by the ALPR system does not establish probable cause for taking law enforcement action.” Absent exigent circumstances, stolen vehicle data must be confirmed with the Communications Division first. Operators must also compare the plate image to the hot list information. See ALPR alert traffic stops.
• Retention: 90 days. “All ALPR data downloaded to the server will be purged after a period of ninety days unless it has become evidence in a criminal or civil action or is subject to a lawful action to produce records.”
• Sharing. Data may go to non-law enforcement personnel or agencies only with the written approval of the Chief of Police or designee, and to requesting law enforcement agencies only with the Chief’s or designee’s approval.
• Access. Authorized users must sign in with a secure password. The policy contains no periodic audit requirement.
• Reports. Operators must file police reports for confirmed hits, including the date and time, visual confirmation of the plate, and status confirmation by the Communications Division.

Pending legislation

A 2026 bill, HB 2033, would create an ALPR program for inspection and registration enforcement. We found it only in bill drafts and committee reports, and the Legislature’s status page blocked our access. We haven’t confirmed that it was enacted.

What this can mean in a Hawaii case

• Which agency captured or searched the data, and what written policy, if any, governed it?
• If Honolulu police were involved, was the data kept past 90 days, and was it evidence or subject to a lawful action to produce records?
• For a stop on a hit, what confirmation happened first, and was there a claimed exigency?
• Was ALPR data shared with or obtained from another agency, and who approved it?
• Does the use of ALPR data raise an article I, section 7 question separate from the Fourth Amendment?

For how to request the underlying records, see requesting ALPR records in discovery.