Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 501-33 (2026)

§ 501-33

✓ current as of July 2026

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§501-33 Accretion to land. [(a)] An applicant for registration of land by accretion shall prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the accretion is natural and permanent and that the land accreted before or on May 20, 2003; provided that:

(1) The State may register land accreted along the ocean after May 20, 2003; and

(2) A private property owner whose eroded land has been restored by accretion after May 20, 2003, may file an accretion claim to regain title to the restored portion.

[(b)] The applicant shall supply the office of planning and sustainable development with notice of the application, for publication in the office's periodic bulletin in compliance with section 343-3(c)(4). The application shall not be approved unless the office of planning and sustainable development has published notice in the office's periodic bulletin.

[(c)] As used in this section, "permanent" means that the accretion has been in existence for at least twenty years. The accreted portion of the land shall be considered within the conservation district. Land accreted after May 20, 2003, shall be public land except as otherwise provided in this section. Prohibited uses are governed by section 183‑45. [L 1985, c 221, §2; am L 2003, c 73, §4; am L 2012, c 56, §2; am L 2021, c 152, §16 and c 153, §9]

Rules of Court

Accretion, see RLC rule 26; maps, see RLC rule 105.

Law Journals and Reviews

The Wash of the Waves: How the Stroke of a Pen Recharacterized Accreted Lands as Public Property. 34 UH L. Rev. 525 (2012).

Coastline Non-Conformism. 42 UH L. Rev. 149 (2019).

Case Notes

Cited: 73 H. 297, 832 P.2d 724 (1992).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1992–2016 · leading case: Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State, 222 P.3d 441 (Haw. App. 2009).

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Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State, 222 P.3d 441 (Haw. App. 2009). · cites it 11× “2d 724 (1992), the Trustees of Kalama Community Trust (Trustees) filed a petition with the land court pursuant to HRS § 501-33 6 to register title to approximately 0.”

Application of Banning, 832 P.2d 724 (Haw. 1992). · cites it 4× “*302 In 1988, the trustees filed a petition with the land court to register title to this land that had accreted to Lot 20-A pursuant to HRS § 501-33. 3 HRS § 501-33 requires that: [a]n applicant for registration of land by accretion shall prove by a preponderance of the…”

Brown v. Kalicki, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 534 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). “297, 302 (1992), quoting from Haw. Rev. Stat. § 501-33 . I agree with the majority’s final point that the interveners’ claims are not aided by any efforts to invoke the rights of the public.”

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