Hawaii bar exam: Legacy or current exam until July 2028; NextGen afterward.
| July exam | Apr. 1 |
| February exam | Nov. 1 |
| Fees | First-time $500 + C&F; attorney $500 + C&F; repeater $500 + C&F; laptop $133.50 |
| MPRE minimum | 85 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Hawaii, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | Rules of the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi (RSCH) Rule 1.17 |
| Accommodation | Limited admission without exam for spouse-attorneys of U.S. Uniformed Services members |
| Duration | 4 years |
| Supervision | Required (direct supervision under HRPC Rule 5.1 by an actively licensed Hawaiʻi attorney) |
| Adopted | 2018 |
Confirm current status directly with Hawaii's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
The Hawaiʻi bar exam has five components: the MBE, the MEE, the MPT, the Hawaiʻi Legal Ethics Exam, and the MPRE. The Board of Examiners administers the first four, and the MPRE is a multiple-choice exam administered by the Law School Admission Council on behalf of NCBE. The Hawaiʻi Legal Ethics Exam is a Hawaiʻi-specific component that no other row in the standard UBE picture has, so a candidate should budget preparation time for it.
The July 2026 exam is July 28 and 29 at the Prince Waikiki Hotel. Hawaiʻi gives the exam on the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week of the last Wednesday of February and July. The application for the February exam is due November 1 and for the July exam April 1. An Order Granting Permission to Sit is filed two to three weeks before the exam.
The bar exam fee is $500, and fees are not transferred or refunded. An applicant also pays NCBE when completing the NCBE Hawaiʻi Character and Fitness Application, which must be finished and paid for before starting the Hawaiʻi bar application and submitted with it, and ExamSoft charges a laptop user fee. The applicant is responsible for a complete application, and incomplete ones may be rejected.
Source: Hawaiʻi bar application ↗
Rule 1.17 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaiʻi, effective July 1, 2018, allows limited admission of United States Uniformed Services spouse-attorneys. An applicant follows the ordinary bar application instructions and files a written request identifying the application as made under Rule 1.17. The Board says it recommends admission for those who have shown minimum competency and the requisite character, and it asks applicants to read Rule 1, especially Rule 1.3, and the Board's Rules of Procedure.
Hawaiʻi runs a pilot project that lets a lawyer licensed in another state, the District of Columbia or a territory practice criminal law for the Office of the Public Defender, the county prosecutors or the Department of the Attorney General without sitting the Hawaiʻi bar exam. The Supreme Court's order says it acted on a January 14, 2025 request from those offices, which described a shortage of lawyers willing to work in government criminal law. The Judiciary's application instructions say an applicant under the project is not required to take the exam.
The applicant must be hired or employed by one of those offices, hold an active license, be a graduate of an ABA-approved law school and be in good standing in every jurisdiction where licensed. The application still goes to the Board of Examiners for a character and fitness report, then to the Clerk and the Court. The order's second amended version, dated February 4, 2026, says the project took effect on July 22, 2025 and expires on November 30, 2027, and that the requesting offices must report to the Court by June 1, 2027 on whether to make it permanent.
The limit on what the license allows is strict. The holder may represent only the employing office's clients and may not take pay from anyone else. The license ends when the lawyer leaves that employment, unless the lawyer has already accepted a job with another qualifying office and told the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association, or when the lawyer is licensed by another route. The holder pays the same dues as other Hawaiʻi lawyers and is subject to discipline under Rule 2.
The February 2026 amendment added a provisional license for an applicant whose character and fitness review is not finished, provided the applicant has never been suspended or disbarred anywhere. The Court's order says it did this because some reviews were delayed. The provisional license is suspended five days after the Clerk files notice of an adverse Board finding, and the lawyer has 20 calendar days to request a hearing. The Judiciary's later instructions refer to a Fourth Amended Order, so check the current order before relying on these terms.
November 1 for the February exam and April 1 for the July exam. The July 2026 exam is July 28 and 29 at the Prince Waikiki Hotel.
$500, and the fee is not transferred or refunded. You also pay NCBE for the Hawaiʻi Character and Fitness Application, and ExamSoft charges a laptop user fee if you type.
One of the five components of the Hawaiʻi bar exam, administered by the Board of Examiners alongside the MBE, MEE and MPT. The fifth component is the MPRE.
On the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week of the last Wednesday of February and July.
An Order Granting Permission to Sit is filed two to three weeks before the exam date.
Yes, on a limited basis under Rule 1.17, effective July 1, 2018. You apply in the ordinary way and file a written request that identifies the application as made under that rule.
Before. You complete and pay for the NCBE Hawaiʻi Character and Fitness Application first, then attach a copy to the Hawaiʻi Bar Application.
No. Hawaiʻi states that fees will not be transferred or refunded, so withdrawing from an exam forfeits the $500 exam fee.
Yes, under a pilot project that runs to November 30, 2027, but only as a Public Defender, county prosecutor or Attorney General employee. The license covers only that employer's clients and ends when the job does.
Compare other state bar exam guides: Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky
Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Hawaii ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.