Honoipu Hideaway, LLC v. State.

154 Haw. 372

• Court: Hawaii Supreme Court
• Decided: June 24, 2024
• Docket: SCRQ-23-0000496
• Status: Published

Opinion

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Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCRQ-XX-XXXXXXX 24-JUN-2024 09:03 AM Dkt. 41 OP

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I

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HONOIPU HIDEAWAY, LLC, Appellant,

vs.

STATE OF HAWAI‘I, LAND USE COMMISSION, Appellee.

SCRQ-XX-XXXXXXX

RESERVED QUESTION FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT (CASE NO. 3CCV-XX-XXXXXXX)

JUNE 24, 2024

RECKTENWALD, C.J., McKENNA, EDDINS, GINOZA, AND DEVENS, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY RECKTENWALD, C.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

This court accepted the Circuit Court of the Third

Circuit’s reserved question: “Whether [the circuit court] has

the inherent and statutory authority to transfer nunc pro tunc

an appeal, which was timely filed with [the circuit court], to *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

the Supreme Court of Hawai‘i as the court with appellate

jurisdiction.” 1 We answer yes. The subject case is an agency

appeal of the Land Use Commission’s (LUC) order denying Honoipu

Hideaway, LLC’s (Honoipu) petition for declaratory order to

change the boundary location between the conservation and

agricultural districts on a district boundary map.

The question follows In re Kanahele, where this court

held that declaratory orders entered by the LUC have the “same

status” for judicial review as orders in contested cases under

Hawai‘i Revised Statues (HRS) §§ 91-8 (2012), 91-14 (Supp. 2016),

and 205-19 (2017 and Supp. 2019). 152 Hawai‘i 501, 512, 526 P.3d

478, 489 (2023). As a result, some appeals of LUC declaratory

orders, then pending before the circuit courts and the

Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), were no longer in the

correct court. Under Kanahele, they all should have been filed

with this court in the first instance. This is one of those

cases.

We hold that in order to correct jurisdiction

following this court’s decision in Kanahele, the circuit court

may transfer the case here nunc pro tunc, or backdated to the

appropriate time. Allowing such a transfer in these limited

circumstances accords with our longstanding policy to hear cases

1 The Honorable Chief Judge Robert D.S. Kim presiding.

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on the merits, and there is both inherent and statutory power

for the courts to do so.

II. BACKGROUND

In 2005, this court ruled in Lingle v. Haw. Gov’t

Emps. Ass’n, AFSCME, Loc. 152, AFL-CIO that although declaratory

orders are not contested cases, they have the same status for

the purposes of appeal under HRS § 91-14. 107 Hawai‘i 178, 186,

111 P.3d 587, 595 (2005). At the time, that meant that both

declaratory orders and contested cases could be appealed from an

agency to the circuit court. In 2016, the Hawai‘i legislature

passed Act 48, which provided that contested cases before the

LUC are appealable directly to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court. Last

year in Kanahele, we wrote that

[t]his court must presume the legislature was aware of Lingle when it passed Act 48 in 2016. . . . Therefore, this court’s interpretation in Lingle of HRS §§ 91-8 and 91-14 that declaratory orders have the “same status” for judicial review as orders in contested cases applies to HRS § 205- 19. . . . Thus, pursuant to HRS §§ 91-8, 91-14 and 205-19, this court has jurisdiction to directly review the Kanaheles’ appeal.

152 Hawai‘i at 512, 526 P.3d at 489 (citations omitted).

In other words, while contested cases and proceedings

for declaratory orders are not the same, we held in Kanahele

that they have the same status for appellate review: both should

be appealed to this court directly.

At the time that Kanahele was decided, Honoipu and

other appeals of LUC declaratory orders were pending before the

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circuit courts and the ICA. Honoipu is one of those cases.

Honoipu is an appeal of a LUC petition, wherein Honoipu sought

to change the boundary location between the conservation and

agricultural districts on a district boundary map. When

Kanahele was decided, briefing had just been completed in

Honoipu. Following Kanahele, Honoipu moved to transfer its case

from the third circuit to this court. The LUC moved to dismiss

for lack of jurisdiction arguing that because, as a result of

Kanahele, the case should have been filed at the supreme court,

the circuit court lacked jurisdiction and should dismiss the

case. In response, Honoipu suggested that if the circuit court

was unsure of its power to transfer the case to the supreme

court, it should reserve the question.

The circuit court reserved this question pursuant to

Hawai‘i Rules of Appellate Procedure (HRAP) Rule 15 (2018). We

accepted the question and designated Honoipu to be the appellant

and the LUC to be the appellee.

Honoipu argues that the circuit court has the inherent

authority under the Hawai‘i Constitution and statutory authority

to transfer the case nunc pro tunc. 2 It argues that the appeal

2 Nunc pro tunc translates to “now for then.” Nunc pro tunc actions allow courts to remedy clerical issues, clear errors, and prevent manifest injustice. See Nunc Pro Tunc, Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019). Here, a nunc pro tunc order would transfer the case effective as of its date of filing in the circuit court, such that Honoipu’s appeal to this court would be timely.

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was initiated correctly based on both parties’ understanding of

jurisdiction at the time, and the mutual understanding of

jurisdiction was upended by Kanahele. Honoipu cites to

article VI, section 1 of the Hawai‘i Constitution, which “vests

the judicial power of the State in the courts.” Farmer v.

Admin. Dir. of Ct., State of Haw., 94 Hawai‘i 232, 241, 11 P.3d

457, 466 (2000). It cites to cases in which this court has

fashioned remedies where none existed, like Farmer, in which

this court allowed an appellant to “be given an opportunity to

challenge the lifetime revocation of his driver’s license

because one of the three predicate convictions on which his

revocation is based ha[d] been set aside” even though the

statute did not provide such an opportunity. Id. Honoipu

argues further that the inherent authority of the courts, as

part of the judicial power of the state established by the

Hawai‘i Constitution, includes “the power to transfer cases that

were otherwise timely brought from a court that lacks

jurisdiction to a court with proper jurisdiction, despite that

no statute explicitly provides for such recourse.”

Honoipu also argues that there is supporting statutory

authority in HRS § 603-21.9(6) (2016), which grants circuit

courts the power to “take . . . steps as may be necessary to

carry into full effect the powers which are or shall be given to

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them by law or for the promotion of justice in matters pending

before them.” It quotes this court’s decision in Alexander &

Baldwin, LLC v. Armitage, arguing that transferring the case

would comport with this court’s “policy in favor of hearing

cases on the merits wherever possible.” 151 Hawai‘i 37, 54, 508

P.3d 832, 849 (2022). Honoipu differentiates between

jurisdiction over the merits of an appeal and the jurisdiction

to effectuate a transfer, arguing that the circuit court possess

the latter even without the former. Honoipu also points to

other jurisdictions in which courts have been allowed to

transfer cases to cure jurisdictional problems.

The LUC argues that the “right to appeal is purely

statutory and exists only when jurisdiction is given by some

constitutional or statutory provision,” and that the circuit

court may not initiate a proceeding in a superior appellate

court. (Quoting Lingle, 107 Hawai‘i at 184, 111 P.3d at 593.)

The LUC emphasizes that no statute explicitly grants the circuit

court the power to transfer the appeal to the Hawai‘i Supreme

Court, and because there is a jurisdictional defect, the remedy

is dismissal of the case. The LUC disputes Honoipu’s HRS

§ 603-21.9(6) argument, contending that while that provision

grants the circuit court power to fashion remedies generally, it

does not create jurisdiction or authorize the transfer here.

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The LUC lays out the different methods for cases getting to the

Hawai‘i Supreme Court — certiorari and transfers from the ICA, as

well as direct appeals designated by statute — and points out

that none of them allow for cases to be transferred from a

circuit court to this court.

The LUC disputes the “inherent powers” argument,

asserting that Honoipu’s reading of HRS § 603-21.9(6) is too

broad and would render the circuit courts “effectively

omnipotent.” The LUC cites Pele Def. Fund v. Puna Geothermal

Venture, arguing that when a circuit court lacks jurisdiction

over an agency appeal, it can “do nothing but dismiss the

appeal.” 77 Hawai‘i 64, 69 n.10, 881 P.2d 1210, 1215 n.10

(1994). The LUC also raises practical questions, including

whether the transfer must be done by motion of a party or sua

sponte, whether it is mandatory or discretionary, and what

should happen if briefs have already been filed. The LUC also

argues that cases from other jurisdictions do not support this

transfer. Finally, the LUC argues that nunc pro tunc corrects

mistakes of the court, not those of litigants. It asserts that

Honoipu’s appeal should have been filed in the Hawai‘i Supreme

Court, and that allowing transfer here would be correcting

Honoipu’s mistake, not the court’s.

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III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Reserved questions are questions of law. Flores-Case

‘Ohana v. Univ. of Haw., 153 Hawai‘i 76, 81, 526 P.3d 601, 606

(2023). We review them de novo. Id.

IV. DISCUSSION

There is both statutory and inherent power to transfer

this case. The circuit courts have statutory authority “[t]o

make and issue all orders and writs necessary or appropriate

in aid of their original or appellate jurisdiction.” HRS

§ 603-21.9(1) (2016). And this court has the authority “[t]o

make and issue any order or writ necessary or appropriate in aid

of its jurisdiction.” HRS § 602-5(a)(5) (2016). This court may

also

make and award such judgments, decrees, orders and mandates, issue such executions and other processes, and do such other acts and take such other steps as may be necessary to carry into full effect the powers which are or shall be given to it by law or for the promotion of justice in matters pending before it.

HRS § 602-5(a)(6) (2016) (emphasis added).

Article VI, section 1 of the Hawai‘i Constitution

entrusts courts with the “judicial power of the State.” This

court has interpreted the judicial power as inherently including

“the power to administer justice.” Farmer, 94 Hawai‘i at 241, 11

P.3d at 466 (quoting State v. Moriwake, 65 Haw. 47, 55, 647 P.2d

705, 712 (1982)). Hawai‘i courts “have inherent equity,

supervisory, and administrative powers as well as inherent power 8 *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

to control the litigation process before them. Inherent powers

of the court are derived from the state Constitution and are not

confined by or dependent on statute.” State v. Harrison, 95

Hawai‘i 28, 32, 18 P.3d 890, 894 (2001) (quoting Kawamata Farms,

Inc. v. United Agri. Prods., 86 Hawai‘i 214, 242, 948 P.2d 1055,

1083 (1997)). These powers include, but are not limited to, the

power to “create a remedy for a wrong even in the absence of

specific statutory remedies[,] . . . to prevent unfair

results[,] . . . and to curb abuses and promote a fair process.”

Id. Other jurisdictions have held that courts have the inherent

authority to transfer appeals for lack of jurisdiction or venue. 3

The LUC is correct that there is no statutory

authority that explicitly provides for the transfer of an appeal

when some intervening circumstance (in this case, Kanahele)

strips a court (in this case, the circuit court) of its

3 See, e.g., Pearce v. Dir., Off. of Workers’ Comp. Programs, U.S. Dep’t of Lab., 603 F.2d 763, 771 (9th Cir. 1979) (collecting cases and noting that “[w]e have held that we have power to transfer a pending case to another circuit even when the latter circuit has exclusive jurisdiction and venue to review the order in question”); People v. Nickerson, 26 Cal. Rptr. 3d 563, 567 (App. 2005) (inherent authority, among other things, “empowers [the California appellate court] to order transfer [of an appeal]”); Pridgen v. Head, 210 So. 2d 426, 429 (Ala. 1968) (“The fact that the appeal was taken to the Court of Appeals rather than to [the supreme court] does not justify a dismissal of the appeal. The cause has been transferred to this court in keeping with a practice of long standing where the appeal is taken to the wrong court. The motion to dismiss the appeal is denied.”); Dunn v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 654 F.2d 64, 68 (Ct. Cl. 1981) (“[W]e have the same inherent power to transfer a case from this court to a Court of Appeals which appears to have exclusive jurisdiction.”); Commonwealth v. Carter, 389 A.2d 241, 242 (Pa. Commw. 1978) (“Where the defect is the erroneous filing of the proceeding in the wrong court, this error may be corrected by certifying the case to the proper tribunal.”).

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jurisdiction. But that lack of explicit statutory authority is

not dispositive. We hold that the power to “do such other acts

and take such other steps as may be necessary to carry into full

effect the powers which are or shall be given to them by law or

for the promotion of justice” gives the circuit court the power

to correct a jurisdictional mistake that was no party’s or

court’s fault. HRS § 603-21.9(6).

A nunc pro tunc order allows the record to “speak the

truth.” DuPonte v. DuPonte, 53 Haw. 123, 126, 488 P.2d 537, 540

(1971). “Where through no fault of the complaining party some

act which the court must perform is not done at the time it

ought to be done, the court, in the interest of justice, may and

should presently do or perform that act as of the date it should

have been done.” Keahole Def. Coal., Inc. v. Bd. of Land & Nat.

Res., 110 Hawai‘i 419, 430, 134 P.3d 585, 596 (2006), abrogated

on other grounds by Tax Found. of Haw. v. State, 144 Hawai‘i 175,

439 P.3d 127 (2019) (citation omitted). Honoipu argues that it

is in the “interest of justice” to transfer the case to this

court, effective as of the date of the original filing in

circuit court, (i.e., nunc pro tunc) such that it was timely

filed. The LUC argues that because jurisdiction is statutory

and there is no statute authorizing transfer from a circuit

court to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, transfer is inappropriate.

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The unusual circumstances of this case weigh in favor

of nunc pro tunc transfer. When the appeal to the circuit court

was filed, Kanahele had yet to be decided. Jurisdiction was

never challenged at the circuit court. The circuit court’s

jurisdiction only became a contested issue after Kanahele.

Transferring the case nunc pro tunc would further the

judiciary’s policy of “permit[ting] litigants, where possible,

to appeal and hear the case on its merits.” State by Off. of

Consumer Prot. v. Joshua, 141 Hawai‘i 91, 98, 405 P.3d 527, 534

(2017) (citation omitted). Now, the circuit court does not have

jurisdiction to hear the case on the merits. But allowing it to

transfer the case to the court with jurisdiction — this court —

will permit the case to be heard on the merits. Otherwise,

Honoipu could lose its day in court entirely if the time for

filing an appeal is deemed to have expired. Even if the circuit

court fashioned a remedy in which the case was dismissed for

lack of jurisdiction - but with leave to refile the appeal with

the proper court - this court would eventually see all of the

same arguments these parties have already made to the circuit

court. Thus, the judicially efficient remedy is to transfer the

case to this court nunc pro tunc so that we may address the

merits questions more expeditiously.

Answering yes to this reserved question is not a

license to transfer any case from the circuit court to our

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court. Rather, in this limited circumstance, in which

jurisdiction was proper when the appeal was originally filed,

but the parties’ understanding of jurisdiction shifted following

a decision from an appellate court, transfer to perfect

jurisdiction is appropriate.

V. CONCLUSION

For the reasons described above, the answer to the

reserved question is “Yes.”

Calvert G. Chipchase /s/ Mark E. Recktenwald Christopher T. Goodin /s/ Sabrina S. McKenna Katherine E. Bruce for appellant /s/ Todd W. Eddins /s/ Lisa M. Ginoza Julie H. China Miranda C. Steed /s/ Vladimir P. Devens for appellee