Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 662-4 (2026)

  Statute of limitations

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

     §662-4  Statute of limitations.  A tort claim against the State shall be forever barred unless action is begun within two years after the claim accrues, except in the case of a medical tort claim when the limitation of action provisions set forth in section 657-7.3 shall apply. [L 1957, c 312, pt of §1; Supp, §245A-4; HRS §662-4; am L 1976, c 219, §16]

 

Case Notes

 

  Plaintiff, a former state employee, alleged slander against one of the state defendants.  Although plaintiff appeared to conclude that the continuing violation doctrine made plaintiff's claims actionable, the court found that plaintiff failed to allege that the incidents fell within the two-year limitations period.  430 F. Supp. 3d 655 (2020).

  Claim accrues when the plaintiff knew or should have known that an actionable wrong has been committed.  63 H. 117, 621 P.2d 957 (1980).

  Minority tolling not applicable.  72 H. 77, 806 P.2d 957 (1991).

  Plaintiff's lack of knowledge regarding a legal duty, the breach of which may have caused plaintiff's injury, did not justify application of "discovery rule"; plaintiff's failure to seek legal advice from an attorney did not toll statute of limitations.  81 H. 391, 917 P.2d 718 (1996).

  Counties do not fall within the ambit of the State Tort Liability Act; §46-72 is the statute of limitations applicable to actions against the counties.  104 H. 341, 90 P.3d 233 (2004).

  Where plaintiffs' claim did not accrue until the quantum of the medical care they actually received exceeded the medical-rehabilitative limit set forth in §431:10C-306(b)(2) (1993), and plaintiff apparently exceeded that limit, this section afforded plaintiffs two years from the accrual of their claim within which to file their lawsuit; as plaintiffs' claim had accrued by the time they filed their complaint but not more than two years prior, the complaint was timely under this section; thus, trial court properly denied defendant's motion to dismiss.  113 H. 459, 153 P.3d 1144 (2007).

  Where §46-72 (2006) created a class of tort claimants, injured by the conduct of a county, who were subject to a six-month statute of limitations period for filing their complaint, and victims of injuries caused by the State under this section had a two-year limitation period, and there was no rational basis to support such disparate treatment, §46-72 (2006) was unconstitutional under article I, §5 of the Hawaii constitution.  115 H. 1, 165 P.3d 247 (2007).

  Continuing-tort exception, which tolls running of statute of limitations under this section, adopted; thus, where an actor continuously diverts water over which he or she has direct control onto another's land, and the diversion causes continuous and substantial damage to that person's property and the actor knows of this damage, such an act may present evidence of a continuous tort.  88 H. 241 (App.), 965 P.2d 783 (1998).

 

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 24 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1970–2026 · leading case: Kahale v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 90 P.3d 233 (Haw. 2004).
Kahale v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 90 P.3d 233 (Haw. 2004). · cites it 158× “On appeal, the Plaintiffs contend that, inasmuch as they brought suit against the City pursuant to Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 657-7 (1993), [1] the circuit court erred in concluding that the statute of limitations governing their claims was not tolled by the provisions of…”
Salavea v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 517 P.2d 51 (Haw. 1973). · cites it 60× “We find it unnecessary to consider all points on appeal, because we can dispose of the issue of the validity of the notice requirements on the basis of only one of appellants' contentions.”
Hays v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 917 P.2d 718 (Haw. 1996). · cites it 14× “It further appears from the record that the city also asserted HRS § 662-4 (1993) as a basis for summary judgment.”
Savini v. Univ. of Hawai'i, 153 P.3d 1144 (Haw. 2007). · cites it 33× “On appeal, UH asserts that the Savinis’ claim for relief is barred by HRS § 662-4 inasmuch as more than two years elapsed between the onset of the Savinis’ injuries— which, UH asserts, triggered the “accrual” of them claim—and the Savinis’ initiation of their lawsuit more than…”
Anderson v. State, 965 P.2d 783 (Haw. App. 1998). · cites it 18× “Anderson contends that the circuit court erred in: (1) granting the State’s June 10, 1997 motion for summary judgment, because a material question of fact existed regarding the application of HRS § 662-4; and (2) denying Anderson’s August 25, 1997 motion for reconsideration.”
Oakley v. State, 505 P.2d 1182 (Haw. 1973). · cites it 28× “[1] *1188 It appears to me that HRS § 662-4 which was enacted subsequent to the enactment of HRS § 46-72 has impliedly repealed this six-month limitation by instituting a two-year statute of limitation for tort claims against the State and its political subdivisions — the…”
Okutsu v. State., 528 P.3d 956 (Haw. App. 2023). · cites it 25× “After briefing was completed we issued an order, pursuant to Hawai#i Rules of Appellate Procedure (HRAP) Rule 28(b)(4),4 inviting supplemental briefing "on the legal issue of whether the executive branch can waive the HRS § 662-4 time bar on the State's waiver of sovereign…”
Waugh v. Univ. of Hawaii, 621 P.2d 957 (Haw. 1981). · cites it 4× “HRS § 662-4. 3 Section 1 of Chapter 661 provides the circuit courts with jurisdiction to hear: 4 (1) All claims against the State founded upon any statute of the State; or upon any regulation of an executive department; or upon any contract, expressed or implied, with the State,…”
Orso v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 534 P.2d 489 (Haw. 1975). · cites it 8× “That HRS § 662-4, the two-year statute of limitations for tort actions against the State, takes precedence over and hence invalidates the notice of claim requirements in HRS § 46-72 and Section 12-106 of the Charter of the City and County of Honolulu and therefore, claims…”
Rodrigues v. State, 472 P.2d 509 (Haw. 1970). · cites it 4× “HRS § 662-4. II. Because the maintenance of a culvert is not a discretionary function, we must decide whether the trial court was correct in finding that the State, treated as an individual "under like circumstances," was liable under the law governing disposal of surface waters.”
Honda Ex Rel. Kamakana v. Bd. of Trs. of the Employees' Ret. Sys., 120 P.3d 237 (Haw. 2005). · cites it 6× “) [6] HRS § 662-4 (1993) states: § 662-4 Statute of limitations.”
Silva v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 165 P.3d 247 (Haw. 2007). · cites it 2× “See HRS § 662-4 (1993) ("A tort claim against the State shall be forever barred unless action is begun within two years after the claim accrues, except in the case of a medical tort claim.”
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.