Session Laws

The Hawaiʻi Session Laws is a massive collection housed at the State Archives. Punawaiola presents the following comprehensive list which spans nearly a century, from 1843 to 2005. There are a total of 147 files and 55,830 images. The original session laws may be found using this call number: KFH 25 .A24.

“Session Laws” is a uniform title applied to the enactments of the law-making entities of the Kingdom, Provisional Government, Republic, Territorial, and state governments. Typically, the English versions of individual enactments in session laws are titled “law,” “statute” or “act,” and are compiled and issued in chronological order, with or without an index.

Variations in title and name of the issuing body characterize session laws in the pre-statehood period. For example, the first volume of session laws included in this database is entitled, "The Laws and Resolutions Passed at the Annual Council of the Hawaiian Nobles and Representatives Convened according to the Constitution, at Lahaina, April, 1843." In contrast, a volume issued during the Territorial period is entitled, "Laws of the Territory of Hawaii Passed by the Legislature at Its Special Session, 1909."

Issuing bodies for these are variously named:

- Legislative Council (1841-1863) from the House of Nobles and the House of Representatives
- Legislative Assembly (1864-1892)
- Executive and Advisory Councils, Provisional Government (1893-1894)
- Executive and Advisory Councils, Republic (1895)
- Legislative Assembly, Special Session, Republic (1895)
- Legislature, Republic (1896-1900)
- Legislature, Territory (1901-1959)
- Legislature, State (1959-current)

Links to current and archived session laws (back to 1999) are available at: Hawaiʻi State Legislature Archives

Please click on the following links to access this digitized collection.

Session Laws by Decade:
  • 1840-1849
  • 1850-1859
  • 1860-1869
  • 1870-1879
  • 1880-1889
  • 1890-1899
  • 1900-1909
  • 1910-1919
  • 1920-1929
  • 1930-1939
  • 1940-1949
  • 1950-1959
  • 1960-1969
  • 1970-1979
  • 1980-1989
  • 1990-1999
  • 2000-2005