General powers and duties of the department
HRS §321-1
in effect321-1. General powers and duties of the department
(a) The department of health shall have general charge, oversight, and care of the health and lives of the people of the State, and shall pursue as a goal, the achievement of health equity. The department shall consider social determinants of health in the assessment of state needs for health.
(b) The department may conduct epidemiologic
investigations of diseases and injuries that threaten or are deemed by the
department to threaten the public health and safety.
(c) The department shall have authority in
matters of quarantine and other health matters and may declare and enforce
quarantine when none exists and modify or release quarantine when it is
established.
(d) When it is determined that there is
imminent danger of epidemic or serious outbreak of communicable disease, the
department may refuse, modify, or limit attendance at any school in the State.
(e) When in the judgment of the director,
there is deemed to be a potential health hazard, the department may take
precautionary measures to protect the public through the imposition of an
embargo, the detention of products regulated by the department, the removal of
products regulated by the department from the market, the declaration of
quarantine, or by sequestering items suspected to be contaminated by toxic or
infectious substances; provided that the director shall find evidence of a
health hazard within seven days of the action taken or rescind the action. The
director shall make public the findings.
(f) All county health authorities, sheriffs,
police officers, and all other officers and employees of the State, and every
county thereof, shall enforce the rules of the department. All such powers in
health matters as have been or may be conferred upon any county shall be
concurrent with those of the department.
(g) The department may establish charges and
collect fees for any of its services; provided that the department shall not
refuse to provide services to any person due to the person's inability to pay
the fee for the service. The department, through the director, shall make an
annual report to the governor, showing in detail all its expenditures and
transactions, and such other information regarding the public health as the
department may deem of special interest.
(h) The department, during the prevalence of
any severe pestilence or epidemic, shall publish a weekly report of the public
health.
(i) The department shall establish and
administer programs, and adopt rules as deemed necessary, for the prevention of
domestic and sexual violence and the protection and treatment of victims of
domestic and sexual violence.
(j) As used in this section:
"Health equity" means assuring equal
opportunity for all people in the State to attain their full health potential.
"Social determinants of health" means
the complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures and economic systems
that contribute to health inequities. These social structures and economic
systems include the social environment, physical environment, health services,
and structural and societal factors.
[L 1937, c 122, pt of §2; RL 1945, §2007;
RL 1955, §46-8; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §19; HRS §321-1; am L 1984, c 173, §1; am
L 1985, c 271, §4; am L 1989, c 211, §10; am L 1990, c 281, §11; am L 1991, c
158, §1; am L 1996, c 167, §2; am L 1999, c 192, §3; am L 2002, c 169, §3; am L
2014, c 157, §2]
Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0321/HRS_0321-0001.htmFetched: 11/10/2026