HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
1867
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to safety at home.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the people of Hawaii have a fundamental right to be safe in their homes. However, the recent rise in violent crimes is threatening the public's sense of security. According to the Honolulu Police Department's 2021 annual report, Oahu saw a rise in violent and property-related crimes, including murder, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. The legislature further finds it is imperative that residents be allowed to defend themselves when in their home, even when using deadly force if necessary, but that the use of deadly force is less justified when the person using force is at the person's place at work.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Clarify that a person who uses deadly force to protect against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, rape, or forcible sodomy does not have a duty to retreat if the person is in their dwelling or on their property, unless the person is the initial aggressor; and
(2) Repeal statutory language that permits a person to use deadly force at the person's place of work.
SECTION 2. Section 703-304, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§703-304 Use of force in self-protection. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section and [[Struck through: of]] section 703-308, the use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor believes that [[Struck through: such]] [Underlined: the use of] force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting [[Struck through: himself]] [Underlined: oneself] against the use of unlawful force by the other person on the present occasion.
(2) The use of deadly force is justifiable under this section if the actor believes that deadly force is necessary to protect [[Struck through: himself]] [Underlined: oneself] against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, rape, or forcible sodomy. [Underlined: An actor who uses deadly force in accordance with this subsection shall not have a duty to retreat under subsection (5) if the actor using deadly force is in the actor's dwelling or on the actor's property, unless the actor was the initial aggressor.]
(3) Except as otherwise provided [[Struck through: in subsections (4) and (5) of]] [Underlined: under] this section, a person employing protective force may estimate the necessity thereof under the circumstances as [[Struck through: he]] [Underlined: the person] believes them to be when the force is used without retreating, surrendering possession, doing any other act [[Struck through: which he]] [Underlined: that the person] has no legal duty to do, or abstaining from any lawful action.
(4) The use of force is not justifiable under this section[[Struck through: :]] [Underlined: to resist:]
(a) [[Struck through: To resist an]] [Underlined: An] arrest [[Struck through: which]] [Underlined: that] the actor knows is being made by a law enforcement officer, although the arrest is unlawful; or
(b) [[Struck through: To resist force]] [Underlined: Force] used by the occupier or possessor of property or by another person on [[Struck through: his]] [Underlined: the occupier or possessor's] behalf, where the actor knows that the person using the force is doing so under a claim of right to protect the property[[Struck through: , except]][Underlined: ; provided] that this limitation shall not apply if[[Struck through: :]] [Underlined: the actor:]
(i) [[Struck through: The actor is]] [Underlined: Is] a public officer acting in the performance of [[Struck through: his]] [Underlined: the public officer's] duties [[Struck through: or]][Underlined: ,] a person lawfully assisting [[Struck through: him]] [Underlined: the public officer] therein[Underlined: ,] or a person making or assisting in a lawful arrest; or
(ii) [[Struck through: The actor believes]] [Underlined: Believes] that [[Struck through: such]] [Underlined: the] force is necessary to protect [[Struck through: himself]] [Underlined: oneself] against death [[Struck through: or]][Underlined: ,] serious bodily injury[[Struck through: .]][Underlined: , kidnapping, rape or forcible sodomy.]
(5) [[Struck through: The]] [Underlined: Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), the] use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section if[[Struck through: :]] [Underlined: the actor:]
(a) [[Struck through: The actor, with]] [Underlined: With] the intent of causing death or serious bodily injury[[Struck through: ,]] [Underlined: or committing kidnapping, rape, or forcible sodomy,] provoked the use of force against [[Struck through: himself]] [Underlined: oneself] in the same encounter; or
(b) [[Struck through: The actor knows]] [Underlined: Knows] that [[Struck through: he]] [Underlined: the actor] can avoid the necessity of using [[Struck through: such]] [Underlined: deadly] force with complete safety by retreating [[Struck through: or by]][Underlined: ,] surrendering possession of a thing to a person asserting a claim of right thereto[Underlined: ,] or [[Struck through: by]] complying with a demand that [[Struck through: he]] [Underlined: the actor] abstain from any action [[Struck through: which he]] [Underlined: that the actor] has no duty to take[[Struck through: , except]][Underlined: ; provided ]that[[Struck through: :]
[Struck through: (i)] [Struck through: The actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work, unless he was the initial aggressor or is assailed in his place of work by another person whose place of work the actor knows it to be; and]
[Struck through: (ii)] [Struck through: A]] [Underlined: a] public officer justified in using force in the performance of [[Struck through: his]] [Underlined: the public officer's] duties, or a person justified in using force in [[Struck through: his]] assistance or [[Struck through: a person justified in using force]] in making an arrest or preventing an escape, is not obliged to desist from efforts to perform [[Struck through: his]] [Underlined: the person's] duty, effect the arrest, or prevent the escape because of resistance or threatened resistance by or on behalf of the person against whom the action is directed.
(6) The justification afforded by this section extends to the use of confinement as protective force only if the actor takes all reasonable measures to terminate the confinement as soon as [[Struck through: he]] [Underlined: the actor] knows that [[Struck through: he]] [Underlined: the actor] safely can, unless the person confined has been arrested on a charge of crime."
SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Self-Defense; Deadly Force; Duty to Retreat; Safe at Home Law
Description:
Clarifies that a person who uses deadly force in self-defense does not have a duty to retreat if they are in their dwelling or on their property, unless they are the initial aggressor. Repeals statutory language that permits a person to use deadly force at their place of work.
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