Hawaii § 11-410 - Administrative fines; relief.

§ 11-410. Administrative fines; relief.

(a) The commission may make a decision or issue an order affecting any person violating any provision of this part that may provide for the assessment of an administrative fine as follows: (1) If a person other than a person described in paragraph (2), an amount not to exceed $1,000 for each occurrence or an amount not to exceed three times the amount of an unlawful contribution or expenditure; or (2) If a noncandidate committee that makes only independent expenditures and has either received at least one contribution of more than $10,000 from any one person or has made expenditures of more than $10,000 in the aggregate, in an election period, an amount not to exceed $5,000 for each occurrence; or an amount not to exceed three times the amount of an unlawful contribution or expenditure; provided that whenever a corporation, organization, association, or labor union violates this part, the violation may be deemed to be also that of the individual directors, officers, or agents of the corporation, organization, association, or labor union, who have knowingly authorized, ordered, or done any of the acts constituting the violation. (b) Any order for the assessment of an administrative fine shall not be issued against a person without providing the person written notice and an opportunity to be heard at a hearing conducted under chapter 91. A person may waive these rights by written stipulation or consent. These rights shall be deemed waived if the order is a preliminary determination of probable cause rendered during a chapter 92 meeting pursuant to section 11-403 and the person fails to request a contested case hearing within thirty days of receipt of the preliminary determination, as provided in section 11-405(b). (c) If an administrative fine is imposed upon a candidate or noncandidate committee, the commission may order that the fine, or any portion of the fine, be paid from the personal funds of the candidate or the funds of the noncandidate committee; provided that if the noncandidate committee cannot pay, the commission may order that the fine be paid from the personal funds of the candidate or officers of the noncandidate committee. (d) If the person to whom the commission's order is directed does not comply with the order, the first circuit court, upon application of the commission, shall issue an order requiring the person to comply with the commission's order. Failure to obey such a court order shall be punished as contempt. In addition to contempt proceedings, the commission may file the commission's order in the first circuit court to have the order confirmed as a judgment, which shall then have the same force and effect and shall be enforceable and collectible in the same manner as other judgments issued by the circuit courts; provided that there shall be no appeal from the judgment. (e) Any administrative fine collected by the commission shall be deposited in the general fund of the State. (f) Any person or the commission may sue for injunctive relief to compel compliance with this part. (g) The provisions of this section shall not prohibit prosecution under any appropriate provision of the Hawaii Penal Code or section 11-412. (h) Subsections (a) through (f) shall not apply to any person who, before the commencement of proceedings under this section, has paid or agreed to pay the fines prescribed by sections 11-340 and 11-391(b). [L 2010, c 211, pt of §2; am L 2022, c 181, §1; am L 2023, c 120, §2 and c 121, §1] Previous Vol01_Ch0001-0042F Next