PART III.
SEARCHES, SEARCH WARRANTS
Note
Part heading amended by L 2025, c 245, §3.
Cross References
See Const. art. I, §7.
Rules of Court
Search and seizure, see HRPP rule 41.
§803-31 Search warrant; defined. A
search warrant is an order in writing or issued otherwise pursuant to section
803‑33.5 made by a judge or other magistrate, directed to an officer of
justice, commanding the officer to search for certain articles supposed to be
in the possession of, or anticipated to be in the possession of, one who is
charged with having obtained them illegally, or who keeps them illegally, or
with the intent of using them as the means of committing a certain offense. A
search warrant may identify an individual or entity authorized pursuant to
section 803-37 to provide technical assistance to the officer. [PC 1869, c 48,
§2; RL 1925, §3959; RL 1935, §5411; RL 1945, §10716; RL 1955, §255‑16; HRS §708‑31;
ren L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; gen ch 1985; am L 1998, c 65, §2; am L 2017, c 196,
§1; am L 2019, c 117, §2]
Case Notes
Void warrant. 4 H. 584 (1883).
This is a definition and warrant may issue to obtain article
from one not accused. 6 H. 684 (1888).
Liquor. 28 H. 173 (1925).
Requirements of probable cause based upon hearsay construed.
60 H. 205, 588 P.2d 909 (1978).
Section (pre-1998) does not permit the issuance of an
anticipatory search warrant. 87 H. 80, 951 P.2d 1243 (1998).
Where 1998 amendment to section did not express a legislative
intent that it be applied retroactively, amendment does not apply
retroactively. 88 H. 433, 967 P.2d 265 (1998).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
10
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1989–2021 · leading case:
State v. Curtis., 394 P.3d 716 (Haw. 2017).
State v. Curtis., 394 P.3d 716 (Haw. 2017).
· cites it 20× “Walker argued that the search warrant was invalid under article I, section 7 of the Hawai'i Constitution 5 and under HRS § 803-31 6 because it did not contain a description of the triggering condition on its face.”
State v. Opupele, 967 P.2d 265 (Haw. 1998).
· cites it 14× “2d 1243 (1998), we held that anticipatory search warrants (ASWs) were not authorized by HRS § 803-31 (1993) 9 and therefore affirmed the circuit court’s order suppressing evidence in that case.”
State v. Scott, 951 P.2d 1243 (Haw. 1998).
· cites it 15× “Whether we agree with that proposition or not, the issue presented on appeal was whether an ASW is permissible under our statute and rules of penal procedure.”
State v. McKnight., 319 P.3d 298 (Haw. 2013).
· cites it 4× “See HRS §§ 803-31 to -34 (1993). In particular, HRS § 803-34 describes requirements with regard to a warrant’s form and content: [t]he warrant shall be in writing, signed by the magistrate, with the magistrate’s official designation, directed to some sheriff or other officer of…”
State v. Navas, 913 P.2d 39 (Haw. 1996).
· cites it 4× “The term "magistrate” is generically used in HRS § 803-31 to refer to a judicial officer who makes a determination of probable cause to issue a search warrant.”
State v. Ketchum, 34 P.3d 1006 (Haw. 2001).
· cites it 2× “See Hawai`i Rules of Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rule 41(a); Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 803-31 (Supp.2000); State v. Scott, 87 Hawai`i 80, 85, 951 P.”
State v. Rothman, 779 P.2d 1 (Haw. 1989).
· cites it 3× “The general statutory authorization for search warrants appears in HRS §§ 803-31 and 803-32, which read as follows: § 803-31 Search warrant; defined.”
State v. Curtis, 364 P.3d 941 (Haw. App. 2015).
· cites it 12× “2d 1243 (1998) (Scott II), the Hawañ Supreme Court, without addressing the constitutionality of anticipatory search warrants, held that such warrants were not permitted under the then-existing HRS § 803-31 (1993) and HRPP Rule 41(a) (1995).”
State v. Higheagle (Haw. App. 2021).
· cites it 4× “To support its argument, the State relies on HRS §§ 803-31 (Supp. 2019)4 and 803-32(5) (2014).”
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.