Rule 40.3 Reconsideration, Transfer, or Certiorari Unnecessary for Exhaustion of State Remedies

If you want to raise a claim of error in Hawaiʻi state courts and then move on to other legal options (like federal court), you don't have to ask for reconsideration, request a transfer, or file for certiorari first. Once your appeal has been decided and an issue was raised in that appeal, the courts consider your state remedies used up for that issue. You don't need to take extra steps to prove you tried everything at the state level.

This means if you raised an issue during your appeal, and the court ruled on it, you've done what you need to do. You can move forward without filing more paperwork just to show you exhausted your options in state court. The one exception is if Rule 40 of the Hawaiʻi Rules of Penal Procedure says otherwise in a criminal case, so it's worth checking that rule if your case involves a criminal matter.