Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 189-2-.08 - Disposition of Cases
(1) After completion of appropriate
proceedings, the Commission or its duly appointed officer may:
(a) Dismiss the case if no violation is
found.
(b) Issue a Compliance
Order.
(c) Issue an Order,
including a Consent Order, finding one or more violations of law under the
jurisdiction of the State Ethics Commission, and imposing civil penalties as
provided by law, including but not limited to:
(i) Assessment of civil penalties in a dollar
amount not to exceed the maximum authorized per violation times the number of
violations found; and
(ii) Order
the filing or amending of any delinquent or deficient document or report
required to be filed by law under the jurisdiction of the State Ethics
Commission and on a form or in the manner required by the Commission, within a
certain time period with copies to be filed with the Commission; and
(iii) Ordering such other actions as
necessary to bring about compliance with the law, including prohibiting the
actual or threatened commission of any conduct constituting a
violation.
(d) Suspend
the hearing and report all preliminary findings to any prosecutorial authority
for any action deemed appropriate.
(e) Postpone findings and any possible
penalty for rescheduling and consideration of the matter at a future meeting,
and subject to the taking of any interim action suggested by the Commission as
dispositive in lieu of further proceedings.
(2) If a Hearing Officer hears a contested
case and issues an Initial Decision:
(a) The
Initial Decision will become the Final Decision by operation of law unless the
Respondent or Attorney General's office makes a written request for review by
the Commission within 30 days of the filing of the Initial Decision. Nothing in
the Rules shall be construed to prevent the Commission, within 30 days of the
Initial Decision, from ordering a review of any Initial Decision rendered by
the duly appointed Hearing Officer.
(b) If the Respondent or Attorney General's
office files a motion for review within 30 days of Initial Decision of the
Hearing Officer, the Respondent or Attorney General's office shall include
therein a statement of the reasons for seeking review and alleged errors made
by the Hearing Officer in the Initial Decision. The Commission's review will be
limited to those issues raised by the Respondent or Attorney General's office
in the motion for review or by the Commission in its order for
review.
(c) Upon the filing of a
motion for review within 30 days of the Initial Decision, by the Respondent or
Attorney General's office, or upon the filing of a timely order for review by
the Commission on its own motion, notice of the date and time for the review
shall be served on the Respondent or counsel for the Respondent and Attorney
General's office.
(d) On review of
the Initial Decision, the Commission shall have all the powers it would have in
making the Initial Decision, and in its discretion shall have the power to take
additional testimony or remand the case to the original hearing officer for
such purpose, as provided in the Administrative Procedure Act and in accordance
with this rule. The Respondent or Respondent's counsel and the Attorney
General's office shall docket any motion, including motions to present
additional evidence, at least fourteen (14) days before the date set for the
Review Hearing. Responses to any such motions shall be docketed at least seven
(7) days before the date set for the Review Hearing.
(i) Motions to present additional evidence or
to remand the case to the original hearing officer for such purpose shall be
granted only if the additional evidence is material and there was good cause
for failing to present such evidence before the original hearing officer. The
Commission shall enter an order as to the legal sufficiency of all motions,
including motions for the presentation of additional evidence, prior to the
Review Hearing.
(ii) Unless the
Commission has granted a motion to present additional evidence, the Commission
shall not receive any additional evidence by testimony or through documents at
the Review Hearing. When represented by counsel at the Review Hearing, only
counsel for the Respondent is permitted to make oral argument on behalf of the
Respondent. When represented by counsel, unless the Commission has granted a
motion to allow the additional testimony of the Respondent at the Review
Hearing, the Respondent may not make a statement to the Commission, and any
questions of the Respondent by the Commission shall be directed to the
Respondent's counsel. During oral argument, questions by the Commission and the
responses thereto shall not exceed the scope of the record under review unless
the Commission has granted a motion to present additional evidence.
(e) Oral argument up to twenty
(20) minutes per side is permitted in the Review Hearing. Additional time for
argument must be requested in writing and docketed at least fourteen (14) days
before the date set for the Review Hearing.
(f) Once the Review Hearing is concluded, the
Commission shall deliberate as to the Final Decision in open session. At the
conclusion of the deliberations, the vote of the matter shall be conducted in
open session.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.