Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 375-1-1-.06 - Appeals
(1) Where state law
permits appeal of Department decisions or actions, the subject party of such
may submit an appeal request for hearing. The purpose of the appeal will be to
determine whether the Department acted in accordance with the law in taking
such action.
(a) Upon receipt of a timely,
properly filed appeal in a contested case which is not presided over by the
agency head or board or body which is the ultimate decision maker in accordance
with O.C.G.A. § 50-13-41,
the Department will forward the appeal and all pertinent documents to the
Office of State Administrative Hearings in accordance with that agency's
rules.
(b) An appeal will not stay
agency action except in accordance with O.C.G.A. §§ 40-5-67.1(g)(3)
and
40-9-32(c)(1).
(2) Cases shall be conducted in
accordance with the following procedures:
(a)
Initiating a case. Any person who is legally entitled to contest a ruling or
order of the Department may do so by filing with the Department a request for
hearing within ten (10) days after receipt of the Department's ruling or order,
except where additional time is permitted under O.C.G.A. §§ 40-5-35
and
40-5-67.1.
Notice is considered received three (3) days after mailing.
(b) Request for hearing shall be submitted to
DDS via postal service to the address included in the notice of agency action
or a Customer Service Center, on a form prescribed and furnished by the
department which shall be completed in its entirety and must contain the
following:
(i) The legal authority under
which the appeal is filed, including all code sections;
(ii) A prayer setting forth the relief
sought;
(c) All
requests for a hearing must be signed by the party requesting the hearing or by
the party's counsel, if represented by counsel.
(d) Limitation on right to a hearing. The
Department will grant hearings as a matter of right only upon timely receipt of
a complete request as described above, but may, in its discretion, allow
extensions of time and amendments of requests for good cause shown. Where
requests are not submitted in accordance with the above, rights to an appeal
and hearing shall be considered waived.
(e) Hearings. All hearings will be held in
accordance with all applicable statutes and rules.
(f) Appeals of suspensions imposed pursuant
to O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1.
(i) In addition to the requirements set forth
in paragraph (2) (a-d), supra, any person who appeals an administrative license
suspension or implied consent suspension arising under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1
shall submit a nonrefundable filing fee of $150.00. The timeliness provisions
of paragraph (3), supra, shall apply to the payment of such fees, except that
for appeals authorized by O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1
the appeal shall be timely if received or postmarked within thirty (30)
calendar days of the issuance or serve date of the notice of intent to suspend
(1205 or 1205s). The hearings unit will not accept hearing requests by
fax.
(ii) In hearings conducted
pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1,
the arresting law enforcement officer may act on behalf of the Department as
the complainant.
(iii) Withdrawal
of Suspension by Arresting Officer.
1) The
arresting officer may at his or her discretion withdraw the administrative
license suspension at any time prior to the docketing of the case at
OSAH.
2) If the licensee does not
timely appeal the suspension, the suspension shall be upheld as the Final
Decision of the Department by operation of law, and the arresting officer may
not withdraw the administrative license suspension thereafter.
3) If the licensee submits an appeal within
the statutorily allotted period for same, the arresting officer may withdraw
the administrative license suspension at his or her discretion at any point
prior to the issuance of the Final Decision by the Administrative Law Judge.
Upon the issuance of the Final Decision, the arresting officer may not withdraw
the suspension.
(iv) If
the licensee does not timely appeal the suspension as set forth in paragraph
(f)(i), the right to a hearing will be deemed waived.
1) The decision as to the timeliness of the
hearing shall be a final decision of the Department, unless granted
reconsideration.
2) If a hearing
request has been deemed untimely, the licensee may request reconsideration by
mail, in writing to RM - Hearing Requests, P.O. Box 80447, Conyers, Georgia
30013. The request must be received or postmarked within five (5) calendar days
after the date of the decision.
3)
The request for reconsideration must be submitted in writing and include:
a) A clear indication of the reasons for
failure to timely submit the hearing request
b) Documentation to support the indicated
reasons
c) A copy of the 1205
notice
d) Documentation from the
U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, or any other deliver entity indicating dates
of delivery.
4) The
decision from the request to reconsider shall be a final decision of the
Department.
(g) Any decision issued by the Department or
by an Administrative Law Judge in a matter referred to the Office of State
Administrative Hearings shall be the Department's Final Decision without
further agency action and without the expiration of a thirty (30)-day review
period unless expressly provided elsewhere in these rules or by
statute.
(h) Any appeals to the
superior court from a final agency decision under this rule shall be served in
accordance with Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R.
375-1-1-.02. Agency action shall not
be stayed while such appeal is pending.
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.