Unauthorized Entry into a Motor Vehicle (UEMV) in Hawaii

Unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle in Hawaii, often shortened to UEMV, is a criminal offense that comes in two degrees. First-degree UEMV is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.¹²³ Second-degree UEMV is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.⁴⁵ The line between the two turns on a single question: did you enter the vehicle planning to commit a crime once inside?

What Separates the Two Degrees

You commit first-degree UEMV when you intentionally or knowingly enter or remain in a motor vehicle without permission and with the intent to commit a crime against a person or the person’s property.¹ The intent has to exist at the moment of entry. Someone who climbs in on impulse and only later decides to grab something is on very different ground from someone who came prepared.

Second-degree UEMV drops the extra intent. Entering a motor vehicle intentionally or knowingly, without being invited, licensed, or otherwise authorized, completes the offense on its own.⁴ Many cases start as first-degree charges and get resolved as second-degree when prosecutors can’t prove the criminal-purpose element beyond a reasonable doubt.

What Counts as Entering the Vehicle

Hawaii courts read “entry” broadly. You don’t have to sit down inside. A hand through an open window, a foot in a truck cab, a lean into a cargo area — any part of the body crossing into the vehicle’s interior satisfies the element.

Tools count the same way. A slim jim in the door, a hanger through a window gap, or a pole through a sunroof to hook a bag all qualify once the tool crosses into the interior. Courts treat the tool as an extension of the person.

The vehicle does not have to be locked. Nothing in the statutes requires forced entry or a defeated lock; the question is whether you were invited, licensed, or otherwise authorized to enter.¹ An unlocked door is not an invitation.

Penalties for First-Degree UEMV

As a class C felony, first-degree UEMV carries a maximum prison sentence of five years and a fine of up to $10,000.²³ Judges have room to work below those maximums. Probation is common for first offenders and comes with reporting requirements, jurisdictional limits, restitution, and potentially a jail term of up to one year as a condition of probation on a class C felony.⁶ Violating any probation condition can revoke that arrangement and send you to serve the full sentence.

Penalties for Second-Degree UEMV

A misdemeanor conviction for second-degree UEMV carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.⁵³ Courts can also impose probation with community service, employment conditions, and victim restitution. The numbers are lower than first-degree, but the misdemeanor record stays with you.

Mandatory Minimums for Repeat Offenders

Prior felony convictions change the calculus sharply. On a class C felony like first-degree UEMV, Hawaii’s repeat offender statute sets mandatory minimum prison terms without possibility of parole:⁷

One prior felony: one year, eight months
Two prior felonies: three years, four months
Three or more prior felonies: five years, which is the full statutory maximum

A court can go below the mandatory minimum if it finds strong mitigating circumstances, but it has to set that reasoning down in a written opinion.⁷ For a defendant with a record, a charge that looks manageable in the abstract can carry guaranteed prison time.

Restitution

Courts must order restitution when the victim requests it. Restitution covers the actual losses caused by the offense: the replacement value of stolen property, the cost of repairing damage to the vehicle, and medical expenses if anyone was hurt.⁸ Ability to pay does not affect the amount owed; it only affects the payment schedule. Restitution is also a mandatory condition of probation, so it follows you even if you avoid incarceration.⁶ A typical vehicle break-in might produce restitution for a broken window, a damaged lock, and the value of anything taken from inside.

Defenses

Both degrees require that the defendant acted “intentionally or knowingly,” and that mental state is the most common target for the defense. Someone who genuinely believed the car was theirs — for example, an identical rental in a hotel lot — can attack the knowing element directly. The argument isn’t that the person had permission, but that they didn’t know they were in the wrong vehicle.

For first-degree charges, the fight is usually over the intent to commit a crime inside. Without stolen property, burglary tools, or other evidence pointing to a criminal purpose at the moment of entry, the charge often reduces to second-degree.

Consent defeats the offense outright. If the owner or someone with authority allowed entry, the “without being invited, licensed, or otherwise authorized” element fails. These disputes come up most often between people who know each other, including former partners with lingering access and friends who claim they were told to grab something from the car.

Deferred Acceptance of a Guilty Plea

Hawaii offers a route that can keep a UEMV case from ever becoming a conviction. Under deferred acceptance of a guilty plea, or DAGP, you plead guilty or no contest, but the court withholds judgment while you complete a set of conditions over a deferral period.⁹ Finish the period without new charges and the case is dismissed with no conviction entered.

DAGP is available for both felonies and misdemeanors, so it can apply to either degree of UEMV. The court has to find that you are unlikely to reoffend and that justice does not require immediate punishment.⁹ After a successful discharge, you can apply for expungement a year later. For a first-time defendant, whether to pursue DAGP is often the most consequential decision in the case.

Consequences After the Case

A UEMV conviction, particularly at the felony level, creates problems that outlast any sentence. Hawaii employers cannot ask about criminal history until they extend a conditional job offer. Once they do check, a felony conviction within the past seven years that rationally relates to the job can justify pulling the offer. Misdemeanor convictions carry a five-year lookback under the same standard.

Professional licensing follows similar lines. A conviction within the past ten years that relates to the occupation can disqualify an applicant. Older convictions require the licensing board to conduct an individualized rehabilitation review before denying a license. In fields that involve handling property, working with vehicles, or accessing private spaces, a UEMV entry on a background check draws immediate scrutiny.

Housing gets harder too. Landlords routinely run background checks, and a felony record narrows the field. These downstream effects are frequently more damaging than the sentence, which is why negotiating a first-degree charge down to second-degree, or steering the case toward DAGP, can matter more than any single day in custody.