On state park land
Permission needed
Detecting itself is not regulated anywhere in Hawaii law. Taking or digging up anything over fifty years old that qualifies as a historic property needs state permission.
The penalties are the heaviest we found in any state – worth reading this page before you go.
This state also reaches city and county land — see below
1. The rule, in full
Hawaii – HRS 6E-11, and it reaches every public acre in the state
Read from the current HRS at capitol.hawaii.gov (Hawaii State Legislature).
Operative text, HRS 6E-11(a):
"It shall be a civil and administrative violation for any person to take, appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or alter any historic property or aviation artifact located upon the private lands of any owner thereof without the owner's written permission being first obtained. It shall be a civil and administrative violation for any person to take, appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or alter any historic property or aviation artifact located upon lands owned or controlled by the State or any of its political subdivisions, except as permitted by the department."
Determination: reaches all public land in Hawaii, and private land too. The full entry is in STATE-LAND-political-subdivision.md.
Hawaii's political subdivisions are its four counties – Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui and Kauai – and every acre of the state sits inside one of them. Hawaii has no incorporated municipalities. So the project's earlier decision to represent Hawaii as four county rows plus DLNR is not just a convenience; it is what the statute's own scope language maps onto. There is no municipal layer for 6E-11 to miss.
Definition, HRS 6E-2:
"'Historic property' means any building, structure, object, district, area, or site, including heiau and underwater site, that is over fifty years old and meets the criteria for being entered into the Hawaii register of historic places."
Two conditions, both required: over fifty years old and register-eligible. Age alone does not make something a historic property, and the page should quote both limbs. This is also a third genuine fifty-year state threshold, for the ARPA explainer's list alongside Connecticut and Arizona.
The penalties are the steepest found in the project, HRS 6E-11(g):
"Any person who violates this section shall be fined not more than $20,000 for each separate violation. If the violator directly or indirectly has caused the loss of, or damage to, any historic property or burial site, the violator shall be fined an additional amount … equivalent to the value of the lost or damaged historic property or burial site. Each day of continued violation … shall constitute a distinct and separate violation. … Equipment used by a violator for the taking, appropriation, excavation, injury, destruction, or alteration of any historic property or burial site, or for the transportation of the violator to or from the historic property or burial site, shall be subject to seizure and disposition by the State without compensation to its owner or owners."
Read that last sentence carefully before summarising it. It reaches the detector and the vehicle that carried the person there, with no compensation. No other state in this project forfeits transport.
HRS 6E-11.5 sets civil penalties of "not less than $500 nor more than $20,000 for each separate violation", each day separate. HRS 6E-11(j) states the civil and administrative penalties "shall be in addition to the criminal penalties provided by this chapter".
What limits it: the conduct is taking, appropriating, excavating, injuring, destroying or altering a historic property as defined – over fifty years old and register-eligible. Detecting as such is not named anywhere in chapter 6E. This is a find/site instrument, not an activity one.
Sources: capitol.hawaii.gov HRS 6E-2, 6E-11 and 6E-11.5. Checked 20 Sep 2026.
2. Where it reaches city and county land
Hawaii – HRS 6E-11 (all public land, and private land too)
Read from the current HRS at capitol.hawaii.gov.
Scope and operative text, HRS 6E-11(a):
"It shall be a civil and administrative violation for any person to take, appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or alter any historic property or aviation artifact located upon the private lands of any owner thereof without the owner's written permission being first obtained. It shall be a civil and administrative violation for any person to take, appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or alter any historic property or aviation artifact located upon lands owned or controlled by the State or any of its political subdivisions, except as permitted by the department."
Scope: every acre in the state. Hawaii's political subdivisions are its four counties – Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui and Kauai – and there are no incorporated municipalities. All land in Hawaii is inside a county, so 6E-11 covers all public land in the state with no gap, and 6E-11(a)'s first sentence covers private land as well.
That also means the project's decision to represent Hawaii as four county rows plus DLNR matches the statute's own structure rather than merely working around the absence of cities.
Definition, HRS 6E-2 – two conditions, both required:
"'Historic property' means any building, structure, object, district, area, or site, including heiau and underwater site, that is over fifty years old and meets the criteria for being entered into the Hawaii register of historic places."
Axis: find/site. The conduct is taking, appropriating, excavating, injuring, destroying or altering. Detecting appears nowhere in chapter 6E.
The penalties are the most severe in this file, HRS 6E-11(g):
"Any person who violates this section shall be fined not more than $20,000 for each separate violation … an additional amount … equivalent to the value of the lost or damaged historic property or burial site. Each day of continued violation … shall constitute a distinct and separate violation … Equipment used by a violator for the taking, appropriation, excavation, injury, destruction, or alteration of any historic property or burial site, or for the transportation of the violator to or from the historic property or burial site, shall be subject to seizure and disposition by the State without compensation to its owner or owners."
Hawaii is the only state found that forfeits the vehicle, not just the find and the tool. HRS 6E-11.5 adds civil penalties of $500 to $20,000 per separate violation, and 6E-11(j) confirms these run "in addition to the criminal penalties provided by this chapter".
Directory entry should read: in Hawaii it is a civil violation to take, excavate, injure or alter any historic property – over fifty years old and register-eligible – on any land owned or controlled by the State or any of the four counties, except as permitted by DLNR. Fines run to $20,000 per violation per day, finds are forfeited, and equipment including the vehicle used to get there can be seized without compensation. It should NOT read that metal detecting is prohibited in Hawaii; the chapter does not mention it.
3. Cities in Hawaii that publish a rule
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.
4. County rules
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.
5. Cities checked — no published rule
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.