HB 595 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO RECORDINGS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.

Summary
Establishes the right of a person to record law enforcement activities. Establishes a private right of action for any violation of the right to record law enforcement activities. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB595_HD1 HB595_HD2 · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was renumbered from H.D. 1 to H.D. 2 and updated with new administrative metadata. The most significant substantive change clarifies the definition of a 'law enforcement officer' to explicitly include duties to maintain public order, make arrests, or enforce criminal laws, while also refining the list of property and instruments that must be returned to individuals recording law enforcement activities.
Scope change
The bill's scope regarding who qualifies as a law enforcement officer and what items must be returned to the public was expanded and clarified.
DEFINITION

The definition of 'law enforcement officer' was revised to list specific duties (maintaining public order, making arrests, enforcing criminal laws) and improved punctuation for clarity.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement to return recording equipment was updated to include 'instruments' in addition to 'property' and clarified that this right applies to persons under arrest or in custody.

TECHNICAL

The bill was renumbered from H.D. 1 to H.D. 2, and internal administrative dates and reference numbers were updated.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
12
Key actions
3
Committee
5
Feb 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Kitagawa, Ward excused (3).
lower
Feb 13, 2025
Committee
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 615) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.
lower
Feb 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Perruso, Takayama, Todd, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.
lower
Jan 30, 2025
Committee
Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 12) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
lower
Jan 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Committee
Referred to LAB, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 2
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Introduced
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
lower
Jan 17, 2025
Introduced
Pending introduction.
lower
3 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors