The Honolulu Police Department’s (HPD) primary
considerations in serving warrants are the safety
of the public and police personnel.
GENERAL
A warrant is a legal document issued under the
authority of a judicial official authorizing
the search, seizure, and/or arrest of an individual.
Different types of warrants include grand jury,
parole revocation, Hope Probation, juvenile,
traffic, misdemeanor, and felony.
A. Warrants are issued through judicial procedures
in electronic and written form.
B. Warrant information shall be made available
to duly authorized persons by the Records and
Identification Division’s Warrants Unit in
accordance with the Hawaii Revised Statutes
(HRS) and departmental directives.
C. All warrants shall be confirmed through
the Communications Division.
D. Warrants shall be served only during the
time periods specified in the orders. When
no period for service is specified in the
order, warrants shall not be served between
the hours of 2200 and 0700 on premises closed
to the public unless there is legal justification
to be on the premises.
E. Warrants received by the department shall
be held for safekeeping until they are returned
to the issuing authority.
F. All warrants that are served shall have
the Return of Service document completed and
report number attached to them. The completed
warrant shall be scanned and submitted with
the report. A copy of the warrant shall be
provided for the defendant and the original
shall be returned to the issuing authority
with the Return of Service document.
WARRANT JURISDICTIONS
A. First Circuit Court Warrant
A First Circuit Court warrant is issued with
the authority of a State of Hawaii judicial
court on the island of Oahu such as the Circuit,
District, and Family Courts within the county of Honolulu.
B. Outside Assist Warrant
An Outside Assist warrant is one that is
issued with the authority of a judicial
court on a neighbor island county within the state.
1. Second Circuit Court – Maui County
2. Third Circuit Court – Hawaii County
3. Fifth Circuit Court – Kauai County
C. Hawaii Paroling Authority
The Administrative Secretary of the Hawaii
Paroling Authority can issue a warrant of
arrest for any parolee as prescribed by the
HRS and Hawaii Administrative Rules.
D. National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Warrant
An NCIC warrant is entered by participating
agencies from jurisdictions throughout the
nation and made available to those agencies
on the NCIC database.
E. Hawaii Integrated Justice Information Sharing (HIJIS) Warrant
An HIJIS warrant is commonly referred to as
an electronic bench (eBench) warrant. These
warrants are issued with the authority of any
State of Hawaii Judicial Court. The judiciary
then posts the warrant on the eBench Warrants
Internet website where it can be accessed by
authorized law enforcement personnel.
JURISDICTIONAL AGENCY CONTACTS AND CONFIRMATIONS
A. First Circuit Court Warrant – Oahu
1. The Communications Division shall contact the
Warrants Unit to confirm all legacy and other
paper warrants that are in the custody of the
Records and Identification Division.
2. The Communications Division shall contact
the Sheriff’s Division of the Department of
Public Safety to confirm all legacy and other
paper warrants that are in the custody of that department.
B. Outside Assist Warrant
The Communications Division shall contact the
neighbor islands to confirm that a warrant for
another judicial circuit is valid and whether
the agency wants the person extradited.
1. Second Circuit Court – Maui Police Department
2. Third Circuit Court – Hawaii Police Department
3. Fifth Circuit Court – Kauai Police Department
C. NCIC Warrant
The Communications Division shall send a query
via the NCIC website to the originating agency
to confirm that the warrant is valid and that
the agency wants the person extradited.
D. HIJIS Warrant
The Communications Division shall confirm
eBench warrants with the appropriate judicial
court.
E. Warrants Issued Directly to the Criminal
Investigation Division (CID)
The Communications Division shall contact
the CID to confirm warrants that are issued
directly to investigators of the CID.
RECEIVING WARRANTS
A. Electronic warrants are issued and posted
on the eBench Warrants Internet website by the
respective judicial authority.
B. Written warrants received by the department
via the Records and Identification Division
shall be routed to the Warrants Unit for processing,
posting, periodical validation, and safekeeping.
The Warrants Unit shall:
1. Assign a warrant number to the document;
2. Enter the warrant information into the appropriate database;
3. When appropriate, make a copy of the warrant
and forward it to the respective element for an
attempt to serve the document. If served, the
serving element will ensure that the Attempt to
Serve Legal Instrument, HPD-222 form, is completed
in the Case Report System (CRS);
4. Keep the original warrant on file; and
5. Verify the validity of the warrant when the
warrant is issued from another county (i.e.,
Hawaii, Kauai, or Maui) and then follow the same
procedure as if the warrant was issued by the
First Circuit Court.
C. Search warrants, grand jury bench warrants,
and other warrants that are issued directly to
an investigator shall be maintained by the
investigator who shall be responsible for the
safekeeping, service, and final disposition of
these warrants. Arrest warrants with an authorized
official’s signature, an embossed seal, and a
completed (blanks filled) court clerk stamp
may be given to the Warrants Unit for processing.
D. When a suspect in custody has a warrant issued
by another judicial circuit within the state,
that warrant may be faxed directly to the receiving
desk of the district detaining the suspect.
WARRANT VERIFICATION
A. When an officer has a person detained,
the officer shall contact the Communications
Division to confirm any outstanding warrants.
Prior to locating a person, officers may verify
a warrant with the Warrants Unit.
B. All requests from the public for any
information on a warrant shall be directed
to the Records and Identification Division.
ATTEMPTS OF SERVICE
Each time an officer attempts to serve a warrant
or develops a new lead to locate a wanted person,
the officer shall record the subsequent information
in the Attempt to Serve Legal Instrument, HPD-222
form, located in the Master Person file in the CRS.
WARRANT CONFIRMATION
This section outlines the procedures for
confirming a warrant for an individual.
A. An officer who has a person detained shall:
1. Verify the identity of the person; and
2. Request a warrant check from the Communications
Division and an NCIC warrant check, if desired.
B. When the CRS is not available, the Communications
Division may conduct warrant inquiries via the:
1. EBench Warrants Internet website that lists
warrants electronically issued by the judicial courts;
2. Warrants Unit that has all outstanding warrants
received through the Records and Identification Division;
3. Assigned investigator for Grand Jury Bench
warrants, arrest warrants, and other warrants
that may have been issued directly to the investigator;
4. Department of Public Safety’s Sheriff Division
that has outstanding warrants issued to it;
5. Neighbor island counties regarding outstanding
warrants issued in them; and
6. The NCIC website.
C. If the person is wanted, the Communications
Division shall ask if the officer wants to confirm the warrant.
D. If confirmation is requested, the Communications
Division shall contact the appropriate agencies to
validate warrants issued within their jurisdictions.
1. To confirm hard copies of legacy and other paper
warrants issued by the State of Hawaii First Circuit
on Oahu, the Communications Division shall contact:
a. The Warrants Unit for all warrants in the custody of the HPD; and
b. The Sheriff Division for warrants in its custody.
2. For Outside Assist and eBench warrants issued
by a neighbor island, the Communications Division
shall contact the appropriate department to confirm
that the warrant is valid and the agency wants the person extradited.
3. For an NCIC warrant, the Communications Division
shall send a query via the NCIC website to the
originating agency to confirm that the warrant is
valid and the agency wants the person extradited.
4. The Communications Division shall notify the
officer when confirmation of the warrant is received.
E. When a warrant is issued after normal business
hours directly to an investigator from a judge or
other authorized agent of any jurisdiction, the
warrant shall be confirmed by the investigator
who received the warrant. After a court seal is
affixed to the document, the custody of the warrant
may be transferred to the Warrants Unit that will confirm the warrant.
SERVICE OF WARRANTS
After confirming a warrant, the officer shall:
A. Effect the arrest;
B. Obtain a copy of the original warrant
from the respective custodian or by printing
it from the eBench Warrants website;
C. Record the return of service information
on the Attempt to Serve Legal Instrument, HPD-222
form, located in the Master Person file of the CRS;
D. Record the following information on the
top, right corner of the original warrant and
in the general notes on the eBench Warrants website,
if applicable:
1. The HPD report number;
2. The serving officer’s name and identification number;
3. The date and time of service; and
4. The district in which the warrant was served;
E. Complete the service information in the
appropriate blanks on the Return of Service,
including the serving officer’s signature;
F. Scan the original warrant and completed
Return of Service into the CRS and submit the
scanned images with the police report;
G. Give a copy of the warrant to the defendant; and
H. Send the original warrant and completed
Return of Service to the issuing authority.
SERVICE OF A WARRANT ON MILITARY PROPERTY
A. The service of a warrant on military
personnel shall be coordinated through
the appropriate Provost Marshal’s office,
Base Legal Officer, Base Police, or Military Command.
B. When a specific bail amount is set, the
serving officer shall inform the Provost
Marshal’s office, the Base Legal Officer,
the Base Police, or Military Command with whom contact is made.
ACCESS AND TRAINING IN EBENCH WARRANTS
A. Element commanders may request access to
the eBench Warrants system for their officers
by submitting a To/From report to the Records
and Identification Division commander. The
report must include the officer’s full name,
rank, identification number, assignment, e-mail
address, and reason the officer requires access.
B. If access is granted, the Warrants Unit
will contact the authorized officer via e-mail
to establish access and send a tutorial for the
system. If further training is required, the
sergeant of the Warrants Unit may be contacted
for assistance.