Exhaustion of remedies

In the United States, exhaustion of remedies is applied extensively in administrative law.

A person's specific rights and duties depend on the federal statute involved, but here is an outline of how the doctrine works in practice.

Once the agency's own procedures are finished, or "exhausted", then the aggrieved person can file a complaint in a federal court.

[1] Generally, the exhaustion requirement permits state courts a "...meaningful opportunity to consider the allegations of legal error."

[2] The issue of exhaustion of remedies in a criminal law case was before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Harvey v. Horan.