HB 334 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO TRAFFIC CITATIONS.

HB 334 makes intentionally destroying or damaging traffic cameras a class C felony, effective July 1, 3000. The bill directly affects individuals who deliberately damage these cameras, imposing serious criminal penalties. Key provisions establish that such actions will be prosecuted as a class C felony, a significant criminal charge. This policy change specifically targets vandalism of traffic enforcement infrastructure, not traffic citation issuance or driver behavior.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

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What changed between versions

HB334 → HB334_HD1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to transfer authority for traffic cameras from the Department of Law Enforcement to any state or county agency, significantly broadening who can install and operate these systems. The amendment also reorganized the text to place the penalty for destroying a camera first, clarified the definition of a traffic camera, and set a specific effective date of July 1, 3000, which is likely a placeholder or error.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from being limited to the Department of Law Enforcement to include any state or county agency, allowing for broader implementation of traffic cameras across the jurisdiction.

SCOPE

Authority to establish and operate traffic cameras was changed from the exclusive domain of the Department of Law Enforcement to any state or county agency.

DEFINITION

The definition of a 'traffic camera' was updated to include equipment owned or operated by any state or county agency, rather than just the Department of Law Enforcement.

ENFORCEMENT

The penalty for knowingly destroying or damaging a traffic camera was moved to the beginning of the section and is now the first subsection listed.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the act was changed to July 1, 3000, replacing the previous 'upon approval' language.

REQUIREMENT

Provisions authorizing the Department of Law Enforcement to issue citations by mail for certain traffic violations were removed in this version.

Requirements for a pre-operational informational campaign and a 30-day warning period for traffic cameras were removed.

Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 705) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on TRN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Kila, Grandinetti, La Chica, Miyake, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, Evslin, Kitagawa.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to TRN, JHA, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

7 primary · 1 co-sponsor