Haw. Rev. Stat. § 88-96
This is the official text of Haw. Rev. Stat. § 88-96, part of Hawaii’s Rev. Stat — part of the compiled statutory law of Hawaii, published by the state as "Rev. Stat." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Rights of members separated from service.
Official statutory text
(a) Any member who ceases to be an employee and who became a member before July 1, 2012, and has fewer than five years of credited service, excluding unused sick leave, or who becomes a member after June 30, 2012, and has fewer than ten years of credited service, excluding sick leave, shall, upon application to the board, be paid all of the member's accumulated contributions and the member's membership shall thereupon terminate and all credited service shall be forfeited; provided that a member shall not be paid the member's accumulated contributions:
(1) If the member becomes an employee again within fifteen calendar days from the date the member ceased to be an employee; or
(2) If, at the time the application for return of accumulated contributions is received by the board, the member has become an employee again.
Regular interest shall be credited to the former employee's account until the former employee's accumulated contributions are returned to the former employee; provided that the former employee's membership shall not continue after the fourth full year following the calendar year in which the individual's employment terminates. Upon termination of the former employee's membership, the former employee's credited service shall be forfeited and, if the former employee's accumulated contributions are $1,000 or less at the time of distribution, the system shall return the former employee's contributions to the former employee. If the former employee does not become an employee again and if the former employee's accumulated contributions have not been withdrawn by the former employee or previously returned by the system to the former employee, the system shall return the former employee's accumulated contributions to the former employee as soon as possible after the later of: (A) the former employee attaining age sixty-two; or (B) the termination of the former employee's membership.
(b) Any member who ceases to be an employee and who became a member before July 1, 2012, and has more than five years of credited service, excluding unused sick leave, or who becomes a member after June 30, 2012, and has more than ten years of credited service, excluding sick leave, shall, upon application to the board, be paid all of the member's accumulated contributions and thereupon the former employee's membership shall terminate and all credited service shall be forfeited; provided that a member shall not be paid the member's accumulated contributions:
(1) If the member becomes an employee again within fifteen calendar days from the date the member ceased to be an employee; or
(2) If, at the time the application for return of accumulated contributions is received by the board, the member has become an employee again.
If the contributions are not withdrawn by the former employee within four calendar years following the calendar year in which the former employee's employment terminates, the former employee shall have established vested benefit status and shall be eligible for the service retirement benefit in effect at the time of the former employee's retirement, payable in accordance with this chapter; provided that if the former employee withdraws the former employee's accumulated contributions, the former employee's vested benefit status shall terminate and all credited service shall be forfeited.
all have established vested benefit status and shall be eligible for the service retirement benefit in effect at the time of the former employee's retirement, payable in accordance with this chapter; provided that if the former employee withdraws the former employee's accumulated contributions, the former employee's vested benefit status shall terminate and all credited service shall be forfeited.
(c) In case of the death of any former member after the termination of service, the former member's accumulated contributions shall be payable to the former member's estate or to such person as the former member has nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board. [L 1925, c 55, §6(10); RL 1935, pt of §7925; RL 1945, §708, subs 10, 13; am L 1945, c 73, §1(f); am L 1947, c 103, §1(b), (c); RL 1955, §6-53; am L 1963, c 127, §13; am L 1965, c 222, §10; HRS §88-87; am L 1969, c 110, pt of §1; am L 1982, c 165, pt of §2(15); am L 1984, c 32, §1; am L 1989, c 100, §2; am L 2004, c 179, §15; am L 2005, c 58, §12; am L 2006, c 169, §19; am L 2011, c 163, §10; am L 2015, c 85, §1]
(1) If the member becomes an employee again within fifteen calendar days from the date the member ceased to be an employee; or
(2) If, at the time the application for return of accumulated contributions is received by the board, the member has become an employee again.
Regular interest shall be credited to the former employee's account until the former employee's accumulated contributions are returned to the former employee; provided that the former employee's membership shall not continue after the fourth full year following the calendar year in which the individual's employment terminates. Upon termination of the former employee's membership, the former employee's credited service shall be forfeited and, if the former employee's accumulated contributions are $1,000 or less at the time of distribution, the system shall return the former employee's contributions to the former employee. If the former employee does not become an employee again and if the former employee's accumulated contributions have not been withdrawn by the former employee or previously returned by the system to the former employee, the system shall return the former employee's accumulated contributions to the former employee as soon as possible after the later of: (A) the former employee attaining age sixty-two; or (B) the termination of the former employee's membership.
(b) Any member who ceases to be an employee and who became a member before July 1, 2012, and has more than five years of credited service, excluding unused sick leave, or who becomes a member after June 30, 2012, and has more than ten years of credited service, excluding sick leave, shall, upon application to the board, be paid all of the member's accumulated contributions and thereupon the former employee's membership shall terminate and all credited service shall be forfeited; provided that a member shall not be paid the member's accumulated contributions:
(1) If the member becomes an employee again within fifteen calendar days from the date the member ceased to be an employee; or
(2) If, at the time the application for return of accumulated contributions is received by the board, the member has become an employee again.
If the contributions are not withdrawn by the former employee within four calendar years following the calendar year in which the former employee's employment terminates, the former employee shall have established vested benefit status and shall be eligible for the service retirement benefit in effect at the time of the former employee's retirement, payable in accordance with this chapter; provided that if the former employee withdraws the former employee's accumulated contributions, the former employee's vested benefit status shall terminate and all credited service shall be forfeited.
all have established vested benefit status and shall be eligible for the service retirement benefit in effect at the time of the former employee's retirement, payable in accordance with this chapter; provided that if the former employee withdraws the former employee's accumulated contributions, the former employee's vested benefit status shall terminate and all credited service shall be forfeited.
(c) In case of the death of any former member after the termination of service, the former member's accumulated contributions shall be payable to the former member's estate or to such person as the former member has nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board. [L 1925, c 55, §6(10); RL 1935, pt of §7925; RL 1945, §708, subs 10, 13; am L 1945, c 73, §1(f); am L 1947, c 103, §1(b), (c); RL 1955, §6-53; am L 1963, c 127, §13; am L 1965, c 222, §10; HRS §88-87; am L 1969, c 110, pt of §1; am L 1982, c 165, pt of §2(15); am L 1984, c 32, §1; am L 1989, c 100, §2; am L 2004, c 179, §15; am L 2005, c 58, §12; am L 2006, c 169, §19; am L 2011, c 163, §10; am L 2015, c 85, §1]
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in Hawaii?
Find a Hawaii lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.