Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 570-1-.05 - Contested Cases Under the Administrative Procedure Act
The hearing and appeal procedures provided for in the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act shall be followed in cases which are directed by statute to be conducted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. Contested cases heard pursuant to the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures provided herein and the following procedures:
(a) Initiating a contested
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 which
shall contain the following:
1. A title which
indicates the nature of the proceedings;
2. The complete name and address of the party
filing the request;
3. The name and
address of all other interested parties;
4. A clear and concise statement of the facts
upon which the contested case arises;
5. The legal authority under which the appeal
is filed, including all code sections;
6. A prayer setting forth the relief
sought;
7. If the party filing the
request is represented by counsel, the name and address of counsel.
(b) All requests for a hearing
must be signed by the party requesting the hearing or by party's counsel, if
represented by counsel.
(c)
Limitation on right to a hearing. The Department will grant hearings as a
matter of right only upon timely receipt of a request therefor as described in
(a) above, but may, in its discretion, allow extensions of time and amendments
of requests for good cause shown.
(d) Upon receipt of a timely, properly filed
request for a hearing, the Department will forward the request and all
pertinent documents to the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings in
accordance with that agency's rules.
(e) Hearings. All hearings will be held in
accordance with all applicable statutes and with the rules of the State Office
of Administrative Hearings and the Board of Public Safety.
(f) Final decisions. Pursuant to O.C.G.A.
§
50-13-41(e)(3),
the final decisions of the Office of State Administrative Hearings, will become
the final decision of the Department of Public Safety or its Commissioner
without further action and without the expiration of any further review period
in appeals in the following matters:
1.
Overweight Assessment Citations (O.C.G.A. §
32-6-27
(a.1)).
(g) Conduct of
agency review.
1. Except for those cases
where the decision of the Administrative Law Judge is the final agency decision
under subsection (f) of this rule, there shall be available an agency review of
the decision of the Administrative Law Judge.
2. Agency review shall be conducted by the
Commissioner in all cases which do not require an exercise of the policy-making
functions of the Department. All cases which do require an exercise of the
policy-making functions of the Department shall be reviewed by the
Board.
3. The Commissioner may, if
he determines that conduct of agency review in any case in which he is the
designated reviewing agency may involve exercise of a policy-making function,
refer such case to the Board for agency review.
4. The agency may dispose of the case in any
of the following ways:
(i) Affirm the initial
decision of the hearing officer and adopt his findings and/or conclusions as is
deemed appropriate;
(ii) Adopt a
new decision based on the record;
(iii) Remand the case to the hearing officer
for such further proceedings as the agency may order;
(iv) Reverse the hearing officer's decision
and enter such order in the case as is deemed appropriate.
(h) Practice on agency review in
cases not covered by subsection (f) of this rule. The practice and proceedings
for securing agency review of an initial decision of a hearing officer shall be
as follows:
1. Requests for agency review
shall be submitted in writing to the Department of Public Safety within thirty
days from the date of the initial decision. No hearing shall be held if
requested thereafter except where events uncontrollable by the aggrieved party
are shown to have prevented a timely request. In this regard, the decision of
the agency shall be final.
2. A
party desiring agency review may submit to the agency written arguments, briefs
and motions within the same limitation as prescribed for a request for agency
review. On agency review, the appealing party shall not present arguments,
briefs, or motions to the agency except in writing as herein
prescribed.
3. The agency decision
on agency review shall be based solely on the record developed before the
hearing officer and such arguments, briefs and motions as have been submitted
in accordance with (c) above. No evidence will be received by the agency in any
form.
4. If the party requesting
agency review desires that the agency consider matters which are not part of
the record, the agency should be requested to remand the matter to the hearing
officer for receipt of such additional evidence. Remands for the purpose of
receiving additional evidence will be granted only if deemed by the agency to
be justified upon a showing that the evidence was not available at the time of
the hearing, through no fault of the party requesting the remand, and could not
have been made available by the exercise of reasonable diligence.
(i) Rehearings. Motions to
reconsider an agency decision or ruling must be received at Department of
Public Safety Headquarters within ten (10) days after the decision or ruling is
rendered.
(j) Any appeals to the
superior court from a final agency decision under the Administrative Procedure
Act shall be served on the Department by personal service to the Legal Services
Section of the Department of Public Safety at 959 E. Confederate Avenue, SE,
Atlanta, Georgia 30316, or by mail to the Department of Public Safety, Legal
Services Section, P.O. Box 1456, Atlanta, Georgia 30371-2303. Service on any
other person, agency, or entity shall not be considered service on or notice to
the Department of the action for the purpose of appeals of contested cases
under the Administrative Procedure Act. The party or counsel shall also furnish
a copy of the appeal by mail to the Office of State Administrative Hearings and
to the Department of Law, Public Safety Section, 40 Capitol Square, SW,
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-1300.
(k) In
hearings conducted pursuant to O.C.G.A. §
40-5-67.1(g),
the arresting law enforcement officer may act on behalf of the Department as
the complainant.
Notes
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