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HRS §291E-40

How to appeal a license revocation in court

If your license was revoked after a hearing, you can ask a district court to review the decision. You must file within 30 days of the mailed decision and pay a fee. The court reviews the hearing record only, and the revocation stays in effect during the appeal.

The statute, as written — Judicial review; procedure

(a) If the director sustains the administrative revocation after an administrative hearing, the respondent, or parent or guardian of a respondent under the age of eighteen, may file a petition for judicial review within thirty days after the administrative hearing decision is mailed. The petition shall be filed with the clerk of the district court in the district in which the incident occurred and shall be accompanied by the required filing fee for civil actions. The filing of the petition shall not operate as a stay of the administrative revocation, nor shall the court stay the administrative revocation pending the outcome of the judicial review. The petition shall be appropriately captioned. The petition shall state with specificity the grounds upon which the petitioner seeks reversal of the administrative revocation. (b) The court shall schedule the judicial review as quickly as practicable, and the review shall be on the record of the administrative hearing without taking of additional testimony or evidence. If the petitioner fails to appear without just cause or, in the case of a petitioner under the age of eighteen, the petitioner fails to appear with a parent or guardian, the court shall affirm the administrative revocation. (c) The sole issues before the court shall be whether the director: (1) Exceeded constitutional or statutory authority; (2) Erroneously interpreted the law; (3) Acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner; (4) Committed an abuse of discretion; or (5) Made a determination that was unsupported by the evidence in the record. (d) The court shall not remand the matter back to the director for further proceedings consistent with its order.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.