§271-27  Unlawful operation.  (a)  Any
person knowingly and wilfully violating any provision of this chapter, or any
rule, requirement, or order thereunder, or any term or condition of any
certificate or permit for which a penalty is not otherwise provided, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.  In addition, any shipper or consignee located in this
State, or any officer, employee, agent, or representative thereof, who
knowingly and wilfully engages the services of any person violating any
provision of this chapter, or any rule, requirement, or order, or any term or
condition of any certificate or permit for which a penalty is not otherwise
provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.



(b)  Any person, whether carrier, shipper, or
consignee, or any officer, employee, agent, or representative thereof, who
knowingly offers, grants, or gives, or solicits, accepts, or receives any
rebate, concession, or discrimination in violation of any provisions of this
chapter, or who by means of any false statement or representation or by the use
of any false or fictitious bill, bill of lading, receipt, voucher, roll,
account, claim, certificate, affidavit, deposition, lease, or bill of sale, or
by any other means or device, knowingly and wilfully assists, suffers, or
permits any person or persons, natural or artificial, to obtain transportation
of passengers or property subject to this chapter for less than the applicable
rate, fare, or charge, or who knowingly and wilfully by any such means or
otherwise fraudulently seeks to evade or defeat regulation as in this chapter
provided for motor carriers, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.



(c)  Any special agent, accountant, or examiner
who knowingly and wilfully divulges any fact or information which may come to
the special agent's, accountant's, or examiner's knowledge during the course of
any examination or inspection made under authority of sections 271-9(a)(4),
271-23, and 271-25, except as the special agent, accountant, or examiner may be
directed by the commission or by a court or judge thereof, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.



(d)  It shall be unlawful for any motor carrier
or any officer, receiver, trustee, lessee, agent, or employee of the carrier,
or for any other person authorized by such carrier or person to receive information,
knowingly to disclose to, or permit to be acquired by any person other than the
shipper or consignee without the consent of the shipper or consignee, any
information concerning the nature, kind, quantity, destination, consignee, or
routing of any property tendered or delivered to the motor carrier for
transportation, which information may be used to the detriment or prejudice of
the shipper or consignee, or which may improperly disclose the shipper's or
consignee's business transactions to a competitor; and it shall also be
unlawful for any person to solicit or knowingly receive any such information
which may be so used.



(e)  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed
to prevent the giving of such information in response to any legal process issued
under the authority of any court, or to any officer or agent of the government
of the United States or of any state or of any political subdivision of any
state, in the exercise of the officer's or agent's power or to any officer or
other duly authorized person seeking the information for the prosecution of
persons charged with or suspected of crimes or to another carrier, or its duly
authorized agents, for the purpose of adjusting mutual traffic accounts in the
ordinary course of business of the carriers.



(f)  Any motor carrier or any officer, agent,
employee, or representative thereof, who wilfully fails or refuses to make a
report to the commission as required by this chapter, or to make specific and
full, true, and correct answer to any question within thirty days from the time
it is lawfully required by the commission, or to keep accounts, records, and
memoranda in the form and manner prescribed by the commission, or knowingly and
wilfully falsifies, destroys, mutilates, or alters any report, account, record,
or memorandum or knowingly and wilfully files with the commission any false
report, account, record, or memorandum, or knowingly and wilfully neglects or
fails to make full, true, and correct entries in the accounts, records, or
memoranda of all facts and transactions appertaining to the business of the
carrier, or person required under this chapter to keep the same, or knowingly
and wilfully keeps accounts, records, or memoranda contrary to the rules,
regulations, or orders of the commission with respect thereto, shall be deemed
guilty of a misdemeanor.  As used in this subsection, the words
"keep" and "kept" mean made, prepared, or compiled, as well
as retained.



(g)  Except when required by state law to take
immediately before a district judge a person arrested for violation of this
chapter, including any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter, any enforcement
officer, other than a motor vehicle safety officer employed and assigned,
pursuant to section 271-38, by the department of transportation to assess civil
penalties, upon arresting a person for violation of this chapter, including any
rule adopted pursuant to this chapter shall issue to the alleged violator a
summons or citation printed in the form hereinafter described, warning the
alleged violator to appear and answer to the charge against the alleged
violator at a certain place within seven days after the arrest.



(1)  The summons or citation shall be printed in a
form comparable to that of other summonses and citations used for arresting offenders
and shall include all necessary information.  The form and content shall be
adopted or prescribed by the district courts.



(2)  The original of a summons or citation shall be
given to the alleged violator and any other copies distributed in the manner
prescribed by the district courts; provided that the district courts may
prescribe alternative methods of distribution for the original and any other
copies.



(3)  Summonses and citations shall be consecutively
numbered and any other copies of each shall bear the same number.



(4)  Any person who fails to appear at the place and
within the time specified in the summons or citation shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.



(5)  If any person fails to comply with a summons or
citation or fails or refuses to deposit bail as required, the enforcement
officer shall cause a complaint to be entered against the person and secure the
issuance of a warrant for the person's arrest.



(6)  When a complaint is made to any prosecuting
officer of a violation of this chapter or any rule, the enforcement officer who
issued the summons or citation shall subscribe to it under oath administered by
another official whose name has been submitted to the prosecuting officer and
who has been designated by the commission to administer the same.



(h)  Any motor carrier or lessor, or any
officer, agent, employee, or representative thereof, who fails or refuses to
comply with any provision of this chapter, or any rule, requirement, or order
thereunder, and any person located in this State, or any officer, agent,
employee, or representative of any such person, who engages the services of any
motor carrier or lessor, or any officer, agent, employee, or representative
thereof, who fails or refuses to comply with any provision of this chapter, or
any rule, requirement, or order, may be assessed a civil penalty payable to the
State in a sum:



(1)  Up to $1,000 for each offense; and



(2)  In the case of a continuing violation, not less
than $50 and not more than $500 for each additional day during which the
failure or refusal continues.



(i)  Notwithstanding subsection (h), a motor
carrier who fails to file, within the prescribed time, a financial report with
the commission pursuant to its rules may be assessed a civil penalty payable to
the State up to the sum of one-sixteenth of one per cent of the gross revenues
from the motor carrier's business during the preceding calendar year, if the
failure is for not more than one month, with an additional one-sixteenth of one
per cent for each additional month or fraction thereof during which the failure
continues, but in no event shall the total civil penalty be less than the sum
of $50.



(j)  [2004 amendment repealed June 30, 2010. 
L 2006, c 94, §1.]  In addition to any other remedy available, the
commission or its enforcement officer, including a motor vehicle safety officer
employed and assigned by the department of transportation pursuant to section
271-38, may issue citations to persons acting in the capacity of or engaging in
the business of a motor carrier within this State, without having a certificate
of public convenience and necessity or other authority previously obtained
under and in compliance with this chapter and rules adopted, or to any shipper
or consignee located in this State, or any officer, employee, agent, or
representative thereof who engages the services of those persons.



(1)  The citation may contain an order of abatement
and an assessment of civil penalties as provided in subsection (h).  All
penalties collected under this subsection shall be deposited in the treasury of
the State.  Service of a citation issued under this subsection shall be made by
personal service whenever possible or by certified mail, restricted delivery,
sent to the last known business or residence address of the person cited.



(2)  Any person served with a citation under this
subsection may submit a written request to the commission for a hearing within
twenty days from the receipt of the citation, with respect to the violations
alleged, the scope of the order of abatement, and the amount of civil penalties
assessed.  If the person cited under this subsection notifies the commission of
the request for a hearing in time, the commission shall afford the person an
opportunity for a hearing under chapter 91.  The hearing shall be conducted by
the commission, or the commission may designate a hearings officer to hold the
hearing.



(3)  If the person cited under this subsection does
not submit a written request to the commission for a hearing in time, the
citation shall be deemed a final order of the commission.  The commission may
apply to the appropriate court for a judgment to enforce the provisions of any
final order issued by the commission or designated hearings officer pursuant to
this subsection, including the provisions for abatement and civil penalties
imposed.  In any proceeding to enforce the final order, the commission need
only produce a certified copy of the final order and show that the notice was
given and that a hearing was held or the time granted for requesting the
hearing has run without a request.



(4)  If any party is aggrieved by the decision of the
commission or the designated hearings officer, the party may appeal, subject to
chapter 602, in the manner provided for civil appeals from the circuit courts;
provided that the operation of an abatement order shall not be stayed on appeal
unless specifically ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction after applying
the stay criteria enumerated in section 91-14(c).  The sanctions and
disposition authorized under this subsection shall be separate and in addition
to all other remedies either civil or criminal provided by law.  The commission
may adopt any rules under chapter 91 that may be necessary to fully effectuate
this subsection. [L 1961, c 121, pt of §2; Supp, §106C-25; HRS §271-27; am L
1969, c 220, §1; am L 1975, c 18, §1; am L 1979, c 41, §1; am L 1982, c 204,
§8; am L 1983, c 124, §17; gen ch 1985; am L 1991, c 57, §14; am L 1995, c 101,
§1 and c 105, §§5, 7; am L 1996, c 102, §1; am L 1997, c 120, §§3 to 6; am L
1998, c 91, §1; am L 2000, c 41, §1; am L 2004, c 202, §30]



 



Note



 



  The L 2004, c 202, §30 amendment to subsection (j) is
repealed on June 30, 2010.  L 2006, c 94, §1.



  L 2004, c 202, §82 provides:



  "SECTION 82.  Appeals pending in the supreme court as of
the effective date of this Act [July 1, 2006] may be transferred to the
intermediate appellate court or retained at the supreme court as the chief
justice, in the chief justice's sole discretion, directs."