The Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, a division of the Department of the Attorney General at 465 South King Street, Room 102, Honolulu, keeps the statewide file, and its criminal history questions page states the rule that shapes everything else. Arrest records that resulted in a conviction, or in an acquittal or dismissal by reason of physical or mental disease, disorder or defect under Chapter 704, are public and available at public access sites around the state and on the eCrim site. Arrest records that resulted in a non conviction, or that are still pending, are confidential and not available to the general public; only criminal justice agencies and agencies authorized by Hawaii law, such as the Department of Human Services for its child care program, may see them. Juvenile records are excluded unless the case was transferred to adult court, and the file covers Hawaii arrests only, never other states or federal cases.
Every entry rests on fingerprints taken at arrest, which the center says is the only way to be sure whether a person has a record, since an arrested person may give an alias; a name check narrowed by Social Security number, sex and date of birth is offered as the less reliable alternative. The counties, each with its own police department rather than a sheriff, book the arrests and submit the prints, and the Hawaii county pages list the four departments.
- $5 and $12: an eCrim name search and a certified eCrim report, by credit or debit card, with no refunds.
- $25, $30, $55: a printout at a public access site, a name check done by center staff with the embossed seal, and an in office fingerprint check, or $35 by mail.
- Confidential: an arrest that ended without a conviction, or has not ended, is withheld from the public.
- $35, 120 days: a first expungement of a non conviction arrest, including a $10 non refundable processing fee, with about four months to complete and no expedited service.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Hawaii's own systems: the eCrim adult criminal information site of the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center criminal history frequently asked questions, the center's name based background check page, the center's fingerprint based background check page, the center's public access sites page, the center's expungements page, the center's expungement frequently asked questions, the Hawaii State Judiciary eCourt Kokua page, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Searching eCrim
eCrim lets a visitor search the center's files for an individual's conviction information by name, Social Security number, date of birth or gender, pay $5 for each unique search, view the results from the receipt screen, and add a record to the cart for $12 to buy an official report. Everything has to happen in one logged in session, because searches are cleared on logout or after 30 minutes of inactivity. The site says No Criminal Convictions Found is a valid result meaning no record came up for that name, that searches may be reused within the same session, and that its results do not include covered offender registration, which has a free site of its own.
Questions about data go to 808-587-3279 and technical questions to 808-695-4620. One statutory note is printed in bold: under HRS 134-84(f) a name based check to buy an electric gun or taser must be run by the licensed seller, a buyer cannot run their own, and no refund is given to someone who buys an eCrim check for that purpose.
Counters, seals and the $25 printout
The name based check page calls the product a police clearance or police abstract for the State of Hawaii only, containing adult conviction information and marked as name based. Besides eCrim, there are three ways to get one. The public access sites, where arrest records that resulted in convictions are available for $25 a printout, are the center itself, Honolulu Police headquarters on South Beretania Street, the Hawaii Police Department in Hilo, the Kona station, the Kauai Police Department in Lihue and the Maui Police Department in Wailuku.
A check processed by the center's Criminal History Record Checks Unit on form HCJDC-073, in person without an appointment or by mail, costs $30, carries the embossed department seal, and takes three to five business days, or seven to ten with a notary; certification adds $20 and notarization is free. The office is open 8 am to 4 pm on weekdays, closed from noon to 1 pm, takes no cash, adds a 3 percent fee to card and Apple Pay payments, and by mail accepts only a money order or cashier's check payable to the State of Hawaii.
The fingerprint based check is by appointment only, booked at 808-587-3279, and costs $55 in the office or $35 by mail with a completed set of fingerprint cards; rolling a set of prints is $25. For a national check the center sends people to the FBI, and for juvenile records to the Family Court juvenile records department at 808-954-8190. The Hawaii background check guide covers the employer program known as VECHS.
Seeing your own file, including the arrests the public cannot
A person has the right to see their own complete record and to challenge its accuracy, and in Hawaii that is done through a fingerprint check the center calls Access and Review. It is the only route to the non conviction entries, since a name check bought on eCrim or at a counter shows convictions alone. The questions page sums up the price list for every service: $25 for a public access printout, $30 for a staff name check, $55 in person or $35 by mail for a fingerprint check, $20 for certification, nothing for a notary, $25 to roll fingerprints, $20 for a duplicate expungement certificate, and a free sex offender record printout.
Expunging an arrest that did not end in conviction
HRS 831-3.2 authorizes the expungement of non conviction arrest information, and the center's expungements page explains that the arrest is removed from both the arresting agency's file and the statewide repository, though the courts may still keep their own records. A citation or summons without an arrest or booking leaves no arrest record to expunge. The statute refuses an order in several situations: a felony or misdemeanor where there was no conviction because of a bail forfeiture, a petty misdemeanor or violation with a bail forfeiture until five years have passed, a person who avoided prosecution by leaving the jurisdiction, an acquittal or dismissal under Chapter 704 for a mental or physical condition, a deferred acceptance of a guilty or no contest plea until one year after discharge and dismissal, and a deferred plea on a prostitution charge until four years, which the questions page gives as three.
The expungement questions page sets the fee at $35 for a first expungement and $50 for any later one, each including a $10 non refundable administrative fee that is kept even when the charge does not qualify, with the rest refunded on denial. Payment is a money order or cashier's check issued in the United States, payable to the State of Hawaii, since a personal or business check gets the application denied. The form, HCJDC 159(b), goes with a copy of a government photo ID and a self addressed stamped envelope into the drop box at the Room 102 counter or by mail to the Expungement Section.
The process takes up to 120 days with no expedited option, no confirmation of receipt is sent, status is not given by phone or email, and a certificate arrives by mail listing which arrests were expunged. Pardoned charges stay on the record with a note of the pardon, juvenile charges are handled by Family Court, and the center sends the FBI a request to remove the expunged Hawaii charges even though no statute requires it.
Act 003 of 2025 and the court file
Until mid 2025 an expunged arrest could still be found in the Judiciary's public case database unless the person asked the courts separately to seal it. Effective July 1, 2025, under Act 003 of 2025, the center transmits each expungement order to the Judiciary automatically for its consideration under HRS 831-3.2(f); orders issued before that date still require the person to contact the Judiciary directly. Convictions can be expunged only by court order, and only for a short list: driving after consuming alcohol under 21, first time drug offender sentencing, pre 2004 first time drug cases and first time property offender sentencing.
In those cases a copy of the court's order must accompany the application, and the arrest may remain at the arresting agency.
eCourt Kokua: the case side of an arrest
The Judiciary's eCourt Kokua holds traffic cases, criminal cases in the district, circuit and family courts, civil cases, land and tax appeal cases and the appellate courts, with a refreshed layout effective May 3, 2026 that kept every function. Public documents with a PDF icon can be bought at a flat $3 for one to 30 pages and ten cents a page beyond, with quarterly subscriptions at $125 and yearly at $500, all non refundable; confidential cases and sealed documents are not online, and most courthouses have free public terminals.
The system is open Monday to Saturday from 4 am to midnight and Sunday from noon, Hawaii time. Older criminal case numbers must be entered in the twelve character format the page illustrates, and questions go to 808-539-4909 on weekdays. The Hawaii public records law guide explains the separate request for a police report from a county department.
Custody and the registry
Hawaii runs a unified correctional system under the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with the jails and prisons under one roof and more than 95 percent of those held eventually released; the department publishes frequently called numbers rather than a public locator, and the Hawaii inmate search guide explains how to reach a facility or use the victim notification service. Covered offenders, left out of every eCrim result, are listed on the center's free registry site described in the Hawaii sex offender registry guide.
Questions about Hawaii arrest records
Related Hawaii records
Hawaii guides on this site that continue from here are the Hawaii background check guide for employers and the VECHS program, the Hawaii inmate search guide for the unified correctional system, the Hawaii sex offender registry guide, the Hawaii public records law guide for county police reports, and the Hawaii county pages for the four police departments.