Kauai County Criminal Records

Kauai County criminal records are held at the Kauai County Police Department and through the state's centralized Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center. If you need to search arrest records, review court case filings, or get a certified criminal history for someone in Kauai County, the county's Fifth Circuit Court and the statewide eCrim system give you direct access. Records are available online, in person at the courthouse in Lihue, and through mail requests. The process is straightforward once you know which office handles what you need.

Kauai County Police Department Records

The Kauai County Police Department is your first stop for arrest records in Kauai County. The Records Division handles all public requests and operates out of the main station in Lihue. You can submit a request in person or use the online Records Request for Non-Businesses form available through the department. Staff schedules an appointment for you to pick up the records once they are ready.

To get records, you need to bring a valid photo ID. A driver's license or Hawaii State ID works. You also need to provide your full name, address, and phone number. When filling out the form, state what type of record you want and the date of the incident. The department may charge a fee depending on what you ask for.

Arrest records in Kauai County are public under Hawaii's Uniform Information Practices Act, codified in HRS Chapter 846. The department can withhold records if privacy rights outweigh the public interest. Medical details, active investigation information, and data that could cause harm are common examples of withheld content. Juvenile arrest records are confidential and not subject to public disclosure under any circumstances.

The department also publishes a Daily Media Arrest Report as a PDF. This report lists names, ages, locations, offenses, and release status for recent arrests. It is one of the fastest ways to see recent arrest activity in the county. If the department denies your request, you can appeal to the Office of Information Practices. If that appeal fails, you can take the matter to Circuit Court.

The HCJDC runs a public access site at the Kauai Police Department location at 3990 Kaana Street. You can get a criminal history printout there for $25. Call (808) 241-1661 to confirm availability before you go.

Visit the HCJDC criminal history records check page to see all your options before deciding how to submit your request. The screenshot below shows what the main HCJDC page looks like.

The HCJDC manages criminal history records for all counties in Hawaii, including Kauai. You can request records by name, get certified copies, or use the eCrim online system.

Statewide Criminal History Records for Kauai County

Hawaii uses a centralized system for criminal history checks. The Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center keeps the main criminal record repository for the entire state. Kauai County residents and records all flow through this same system. If you need a full background check on someone, the HCJDC is where you start.

The online option is eCrim. You can search the eCrim system for adult criminal conviction information from any device. Each unique name search costs $5.00. A certified eCrim report runs $12.00 per record. You create an account, run the search, pay, and get your results in one session. The system logs you out after 30 minutes of inactivity, so plan to complete your search in one sitting. The eCrim system covers conviction records only, not arrests that did not lead to convictions.

Note: eCrim results are based on conviction data in the HCJDC system. Some agencies will not accept online printouts, so check with whoever is requesting the records before you run the search.

The HCJDC also has a public access site at the Kauai Police Department. You go in person and get a printout for $25. If you want an in-office check with certification, that runs $50 total ($30 base plus $20 for the certified copy). Mail requests cost the same. Fingerprint-based checks are more thorough and cost $55 in person or $35 by mail. The screenshot below shows the HCJDC public access sites list, which includes the Kauai County location.

The public access sites page at the HCJDC website lists all locations where you can get an in-person criminal history printout, including the site at Kauai Police Department in Lihue.

Fifth Circuit Court - Kauai County

The Fifth Circuit Court handles all civil, criminal, family, and traffic cases for Kauai County. It sits at the Kauai Judiciary Complex in Lihue, just down the street from the police department. If you are looking for court case records, this is the right place. The court keeps files on all criminal cases filed in the county, and you can view them in person or through eCourt Kokua online.

Public access terminals are available at the courthouse for searching eCourt Kokua records at no charge. Daily court calendars are posted at the building and on the Hawaii State Judiciary website. Calendars list defendant names, case numbers, and scheduled hearing details. These are public documents. Anyone can view them.

The online eCourt Kokua search portal gives you access to case information from all Hawaii courts, including the Fifth Circuit. Basic case information is free to view. Downloadable documents cost $3.00 per document up to 30 pages, then $0.10 per additional page. Certified copies are $5.00 each. You can also subscribe for unlimited downloads at $125 per quarter or $500 per year. District Court criminal cases filed before August 2012 are not available through the system. The screenshot below shows the eCourt Kokua search interface you will use to find Kauai County court records.

eCourt Kokua lets you search by party name, case ID, or citation number. It covers criminal cases in both the District and Circuit divisions of the Fifth Circuit Court.

What Kauai County Arrest Records Contain

Arrest records in Kauai County follow a standard format used across the state. Each record includes the person's full legal name, date of birth, physical description, gender, and race. The record also shows the date and time of the arrest, the location where it happened, the name of the arresting officer, and the charges filed. If a warrant was involved, the record includes the warrant number, the issuing court, and the date it was signed.

Booking information is part of the record too. This includes the facility where the person was booked, the booking date and time, and the property inventory taken at the time. Bond and bail amounts are listed along with whether bail was posted, the type of bond, and any conditions of release. If the case went to court, the record may also show the case number, scheduled court dates, and the final disposition.

Mugshots are available through formal records requests. The typical cost is $10 to $25 per photograph. You will not find mugshots through any official online channel in Kauai County. You have to request them directly from the department. Retention rules under state law keep adult arrest records in the HCJDC system indefinitely unless the person gets an expungement. Juvenile records are generally sealed when the person turns 18. Cases where no charges were filed are kept for at least one year past the statute of limitations.

Kauai Community Correctional Center

The Kauai Community Correctional Center is the county's detention facility. It holds people who are waiting for trial and those serving short sentences for misdemeanor offenses. The facility is located on Kuhio Highway in Lihue. The Hawaii Department of Public Safety oversees it as part of the state corrections system.

To find out if someone is held at the facility, use the DPS SAVIN or VINE system. You can search by the person's name or their inmate ID number. Federal offenders are not held here. Those cases go through the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and you can use the BOP Inmate Locator at bop.gov to track federal inmates by name or federal ID.

Note: Inmate lookup tools are updated as records are processed. If you cannot find someone, call the facility directly or contact the Department of Public Safety.

Kauai County Arrest Data

Kauai County arrest data is collected under Hawaii's participation in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division runs the Uniform Crime Reporting program and publishes statistics on the Hawaii NIBRS Dashboard. The data is public and updated on a regular basis.

In 2023, the NIBRS Dashboard recorded 1,127 arrestees with a known age group in Kauai County. Of those, 1,052 were categorized by gender and 1,101 by race. Most arrests were for crimes against persons. That category included 369 male arrestees and 194 female arrestees. These numbers give you a picture of the type of law enforcement activity happening on the island each year.

Public arrest records at the county level show name, age, gender, race, arresting agency, the charges filed, booking number, bond amount, and any mugshots on record. Not all of this is available through online searches. Some details require a formal request to the Records Division.

Kauai County Clerk's Office

The Kauai County Clerk's Office is another resource for public records in the county. It keeps official county records and can help you find information that falls outside what the police department or courts maintain. The Clerk's Office also publishes County Council meeting minutes, some of which include public safety reports and aggregate arrest statistics.

Meeting minutes are available at the Clerk's Office and through the Kauai County website. If you are researching a matter that involves the county council or public safety committees, minutes from those meetings can give you useful background. For actual criminal records, the Clerk's Office will direct you to the police department or the Fifth Circuit Court.

Hawaii Law and Kauai County Records Access

Access to criminal records in Kauai County is governed by state law. The main statute is Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 846, which covers the criminal justice data center and criminal history record checks. HRS § 846-2.5 and § 846-2.7 set out who can get records and under what rules. The HCJDC operates under this authority.

Hawaii's Uniform Information Practices Act, found in HRS Chapter 92F, sets the broader framework for public access to all government records. It says records are open by default. Government agencies can only withhold them when a specific exception applies. Those exceptions include protecting privacy, shielding active investigations, and preventing harm. If an agency denies your request, it must explain why in writing.

Expungement is available in Hawaii for certain offenses under HRS § 831-3.2. If someone gets an expungement, the HCJDC removes that conviction from the public record. Juvenile records are sealed under a separate section of state law. Arrests that did not lead to conviction can also be expunged in many cases. After expungement, those records will not appear in eCrim searches or on HCJDC printouts.

Communities in Kauai County

Kauai County covers the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Lihue is the county seat and is where the main police station, courthouse, and county offices are located. No cities in Kauai County meet the population threshold for individual city pages. If you live in Kapaa, Waimea, Hanalei, or anywhere else on the island, you file and search criminal records through the same county-level offices in Lihue.

Nearby Counties

Kauai County is one of Hawaii's five counties. The other counties each have their own court circuits and police departments. If someone has records in more than one county, you will need to check each one separately.