2015 Hawaii Revised Statutes
TITLE 37. HAWAII PENAL CODE
710. Offenses Against Public Administration
710-1014.5 Misuse of 911 emergency telephone service.

§710-1014.5 Misuse of 911 emergency telephone service. (1) A person commits the offense of misuse of 911 emergency telephone service if the person accesses the telephone number 911 and:

(a) Knowingly causes a false alarm; or

(b) Makes a false complaint or a report of false information in reckless disregard of the risk that a public safety agency will respond by dispatching emergency services.

(2) Misuse of 911 emergency telephone service is a misdemeanor.

(3) For purposes of this section, "public safety agency" means any federal, state, or county police, fire, emergency medical service, or emergency management agency. [L 2005, c 17, §1; am L 2014, c 111, §22]

COMMENTARY ON §710-1014.5

Act 17, Session Laws 2005, established as a misdemeanor offense, the misuse of 911 emergency telephone service, when an individual accesses 911 and knowingly causes a false alarm or recklessly makes a false complaint or report. The legislature found that the Act would prevent public safety agencies from wasting their time on false alarms and ensure that legitimate emergency requests were not hampered by the abuse of the emergency system. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 1297, House Standing Committee Report No. 129.

Act 111, Session Laws 2014, which amended subsection (3), updated and recodified Hawaii's emergency management laws to conform with nationwide emergency management practices by, among other things, establishing a Hawaii emergency management agency in the state department of defense with the functions and authority currently held by the state civil defense agency; establishing the power and authority of the director of Hawaii emergency management, who will be the adjutant general, and providing the director with the functions and authority currently held by the director of civil defense; establishing county emergency management agencies, each to be under the respective county mayor's direction, with the functions and authority currently held by the local organizations for civil defense; and repealing the chapters on disaster relief [chapter 127] and the civil defense [and] emergency act [chapter 128], which were determined to be obsolete with the creation of the Hawaii emergency management agency. Conference Committee Report No. 129-14.