Haw. Rev. Stat. » Haw. Rev. Stat. / Chapter 171
Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 171-1 (2026)

  Definitions

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section HI-LEGcapitol.hawaii.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

PART I.  GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

     §171-1  Definitions.  In this chapter, if not inconsistent with the context:

     "Abandoned property" or "property abandoned" means any and all property, including personal property, items, materials, equipment, fixtures, motor vehicles, or vessels, that has been left unattended on land owned or controlled by the State without authority for a continuous period of more than twenty-four hours.

     "Accreted lands" means lands formed by the gradual accumulation of land on a beach or shore along the ocean by the action of natural forces.

     "Agriculture or agricultural" means the planting, cultivating, harvesting, and processing of crops, including those planted, cultivated, harvested, and processed for food, ornamental, grazing, or forestry purposes, and including aquatic life farmed or ranched as aquaculture as defined by section 187A-1.

     "Animal unit" means one mature cow or horse; two yearling steers or heifers; five mature sheep; twelve weaned lambs; two colts.

     "Board" means the board of land and natural resources.

     "Carrying capacity" means the maximum number of animal units which an area will support over a period of years without injury to the soil, forage resources, tree growth, watershed, or unwarranted interference with other services of the land.

     "Chairperson" means the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources.

     "Department" means the department of land and natural resources.

     "District" means the land district as constituted under this chapter.

     "Good standing" means the status of a lessee who is in full compliance with the lessee's obligations under the lease.

     "Holder of record having a security interest" is a person who is the owner or possessor of a security interest in any land covered in section 171-21 and who has filed with the bureau of conveyances of the State and with the department a copy of the interest.

     "Land" includes all interests therein and natural resources including water, minerals, and all such things connected with land, unless otherwise expressly provided.

     "Land agent" means the land agent of the public lands of the district where the land is situated.

     "Land license" means a privilege granted to enter land for a certain special purpose such as the removal of timber, soil, sand, gravel, stone, hapuu, and plants, but not including water rights, ground or surface, nor removal of minerals.

     "Land patent" means a government grant of real estate in fee simple.

     "Lease" means the right to possess and use land for a term of years.

     "Person" includes individual, partnership, corporation, and association, except as otherwise defined in this chapter.

     "Public purpose", as used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, includes but shall not be limited to all public uses, the straightening of boundaries of public lands, acquisition of access to landlocked public lands, the consolidation of the holdings of public lands, development of houselots, farmlots, and industrial parks.

     "Recreation-residence" means a part-time residence for occasional, recreational use and not for continuous occupancy by the lessee or lessee's family, friends, and guests.

     "Seized property" or "property seized" means any and all property, including personal property, items, materials, equipment, fixtures, motor vehicles, or vessels, that has been seized by the State as the result of an unauthorized use of or encroachment on land owned or controlled by the State.

     "Unencumbered public lands" means any lands defined as public lands by section 171-2 and which have not been:

     (1)  Set aside for any purpose, by statute, executive order, or other means to a governmental agency; or

     (2)  Encumbered by lease, license, permit, easement, or other document issued by the department.

Unencumbered public lands include, but are not limited to, beach and coastal areas, submerged lands, and mountainous nonforest reserve, wildlife, or park areas. [L 1962, c 32, pt of §2; am L 1965, c 239, §1; Supp, §103A-1; HRS §171-1; am L 1971, c 30, §1; am L 1973, c 68, §2; am L 1986, c 184, §2; am L 1988, c 136, §1 and c 361, §2; am L 1993, c 81, §2; gen ch 1993; am L 2003, c 73, §1; am L 2025, c 225, §2]

 

Law Journals and Reviews

 

  For an account of the change from the ancient Hawaiian land system, see The Hawaiian Land Revolution, Jon J. Chinen, 5 HBJ 11 (1967).

 

Case Notes

 

  "Town lots".  17 H. 539 (1906).

  Person seeking to enforce mechanic's lien is not within term "holder of record of any security interest".  51 H. 87, 451 P.2d 809 (1969).

  Overall purpose of this chapter is preservation of assets of the State.  60 H. 228, 588 P.2d 430 (1978).

  Surety on lease not necessarily a "holder of a security interest".  2 H. App. 118, 627 P.2d 284 (1981).

 

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1966–2025 · leading case: Umberger v. Dep't of Land & Nat. Resources., 403 P.3d 277 (Haw. 2017).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Umberger v. Dep't of Land & Nat. Resources., 403 P.3d 277 (Haw. 2017). · cites it 6× “” HRS § 171-1 (2011) (emphasis added). HRS § 171-2 then defines “public lands” as all lands or interest therein in the State classed as government or crown lands previous to August 15, 1895, or acquired or reserved by the government upon or subsequent to that date by purchase,…”
Hui Kako'o Aina Ho'opulapula v. Bd. of Land & Nat. Resources, 143 P.3d 1230 (Haw. 2006). · cites it 2× “of an agency necessarily includes the custodial management *47 of public property entrusted to the agency, and holding that a contested case hearing was not “required by law” for BLNR decisions relating to such management); HRS § 171-13 [ (1993) ] (providing that the BLNR may…”
Atlas Elevator Co. v. Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court, 412 P.2d 645 (Haw. 1966). · cites it 5× “***** “If no officer, director, manager, superintendent or other person in charge of the property, business or *132 office of the corporation can be found within the State; and in case the corporation, if a foreign corporation, has neglected to file with the officer specified in…”
Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State, 222 P.3d 441 (Haw. App. 2009). “Section 171-1, [HRS], is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows: " "Accreted lands” means lands formed by the gradual accumulation of land on a beach or shore along the ocean by the action of natural forces.”
Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State., 547 P.3d 1174 (Haw. App. 2024). “See Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 171-1 (Supp. 2003). 3 The Honorable Virginia Lea Crandall presided.”
Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State. ICA Opinion, filed 03/18/2024 [ada], 154 Haw. 144. Application for Writ of Certiorari, filed 06/14/2024. S.Ct Order Accepting Application for Writ of Certiorari, filed 08/12/2024 [ada]. ICA Order of Corr., filed 11/04/2024 [ada]. (Haw. 2025). · cites it 6× “The leases did not include a 2 Section 1 of Act 73 amended HRS § 171-1, defining accreted lands as “lands formed by the gradual accumulation of land on a beach or shore along the ocean by the action of natural forces.”
Kia'i Wai o Wai'ale'ale v. Bd. of Land & Nat. Resources (Haw. 2025). · cites it 4× “HRS § 171-1 38 *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER *** et seq.”
Carmichael v. Bd. of Land & Nat. Resources. (Haw. 2022). · cites it 2× “” In turn, HRS § 171-1 (2011) defines “land” to include “all interests therein .”
State v. Kauai Kai, Inc., 627 P.2d 284 (Haw. App. 1981). · cites it 2× “HRS § 171-1 Definitions, provides that: * * * * * “holder of record having a security interest” is a person who is the owner or possessor of a security interest in any land covered in section 171-21 and who has filed with the bureau of conveyances of the State and with the…”
Laki Kaahumanu v. State of Hawaii, Dep't Of (9th Cir. 2012). “” Haw. Rev. Stat. § 171-1 . Beaches within the juris- diction of DLNR extend from the water’s edge to the high- tide line.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.