Current Status Introducing Body:House Bill Number:3259 Primary Sponsor:Sheheen Committee Number:25 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Administrative Law Judge Division Residing Body:House Current Committee:Judiciary Computer Document Number:CYY/15043SD.93 Introduced Date:19930126 Last History Body:House Last History Date:19930126 Last History Type:Introduced, read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Sheheen M.O. Alexander Hodges Cromer McElveen Wilkins Huff Rogers Felder Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved
____ ______ ____________ ______________________________ ___ ____________
3259 House 19930126 Introduced, read first time, 25
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND CHAPTER 23 OF TITLE 1, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO STATE AGENCY RULE MAKING AND ADJUDICATION OF CONTESTED CASES BY ADDING ARTICLE 5 SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE SOUTH CAROLINA ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DIVISION THE JUDGES OF WHICH INDIVIDUALLY SHALL HEAR, DETERMINE, AND PRESIDE OVER CONTESTED CASES OF CERTAIN STATE AGENCIES AND COMMISSIONS, AND IN PANELS SHALL HEAR WORKERS' COMPENSATION APPEALS FROM THE SINGLE COMMISSIONER LEVEL RATHER THAN A PANEL OF THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION OR THE FULL COMMISSION, AND TO AMEND SECTION 42-3-20, RELATING TO THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION, SO AS TO DELETE REFERENCES TO PANELS OF THE COMMISSION AND THE AUTHORITY OF THESE PANELS OR THE FULL COMMISSION TO CONDUCT REVIEWS OF SINGLE COMMISSIONER DECISIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 23, Title 1 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 1-23-500. There is created the South Carolina Administrative Law Judge Division, which is an agency of the executive branch of the government of this State. The division consists of a chief administrative law judge and five associate administrative law judges.
Section 1-23-510. (A) The judges of the division must be appointed by the Governor, with advice and consent of the General Assembly, for a term of six years and until their successors are appointed and qualify; provided, that of those judges initially appointed, the chief judge (Seat 1) and the judge appointed to Seat 2 must be appointed for terms of six years, the judges appointed to Seats 3 and 4 must be appointed for terms of four years, and the judges appointed to Seats 5 and 6 must be appointed for terms of two years. The terms of office of the judges of the division begin on July first of the year of appointment.
(B) Each judicial seat on the division must be numbered. Appointments are required to be for a specific seat. The office of chief administrative law judge is a separate and distinct office for the purpose of an appointment.
(C) In the event that there is a vacancy in the position of the chief administrative law judge or for any reason the chief administrative law judge is unable to act, his powers and functions must be exercised by the associate administrative law judge occupying Seat 2.
Section 1-23-520. No person is eligible for the office of chief judge or associate judge of the division who does not at the time of his appointment meet the qualification for justices and judges as set forth in Article V of the Constitution of this State or is not a certified public accountant.
Section 1-23-530. The judges of the division shall qualify after the date of their appointment by taking the constitutional oath of office.
Section 1-23-540. The chief judge and the associate judges shall receive as annual salary ninety percent of that paid to the family court judges of this State. They are not allowed any fees or perquisites of office, nor may they hold any other office of honor, trust, or profit. Administrative law judges in the performance of their duties are also entitled to that per diem, mileage, and subsistence as is authorized by law for circuit court judges.
Each administrative law judge shall devote full time to his duties as an administrative law judge, and may not practice law or accounting during his term of office, nor may he during this term be the partner or associate with anyone engaged in the practice of law or accounting in this State.
Section 1-23-550. All vacancies in the office of administrative law judge must be filled in the manner of original appointment. When a vacancy is filled, the judge selected shall hold office only for the unexpired term of his predecessor.
Section 1-23-560. No administrative law judge may sit in any case in which he may be interested or in which he may have been counsel.
Section 1-23-570. The chief judge is responsible for the administration of the division. The chief judge shall assign cases to the judges of the division including himself and rotate and interchange the judges of the division among the various state agencies or commissions in regard to which it is responsible for hearing contested cases. The chief judge shall also assign judges to sit in three-member panels to hear workers' compensation appeals from the single commissioner level as provided by this article.
Section 1-23-580. (A) A clerk of the division, to be appointed by the judges of the division, must be appointed and is responsible for the custody and keeping of the records of the division. The clerk of the division shall perform those other duties as the chief judge prescribes.
(B) The other support staff of the division is as authorized by the General Assembly in the annual general appropriations act. The division may engage stenographers for the transcribing of the proceedings in which an administrative law judge presides. It may contract for these stenographic functions, or it may use stenographers provided by the agency or commission.
Section 1-23-590. The General Assembly in the annual general appropriations act shall appropriate those funds necessary for the operation of the Administrative Law Judge Division.
Section 1-23-600. (A) An administrative law judge of the division shall preside over all hearings of contested cases as defined in Section 1-23-310 involving the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, and the Tax Commission. The presiding administrative law judge rather than the agency or commission involved by written order shall also render the decision involving the contested case. These agencies or commissions shall notify the Administrative Law Judge Division of all pending contested cases. Upon notification, the chief administrative law judge shall assign a judge to each contested case.
(B) Panels of three administrative law judges of the division as assigned by the chief administrative law judge shall also hear workers' compensation appeals from the single commissioner level rather than a panel of the Workers' Compensation Commission or the full commission. Appeals from the decisions of administrative law judge panels in these matters shall be directly to the Supreme Court as provided in Section 1-23-610. The Workers' Compensation Commission shall notify the Administrative Law Judge Division of pending appeals or reviews from the single commissioner level and the chief administrative law judge upon receiving the notification shall assign a panel of judges to each appeal.
Section 1-23-610. The hearings and proceedings concerning contested cases and workers' compensation appeals must be transcribed and are open to the public unless confidentiality is allowed or required by law in cases involving the Tax Commission or the other agencies or commissions. The presiding administrative law judge or law judge panel shall render the decision in a written order and an appeal therefrom is directly to the Supreme Court. The decisions or orders of these administrative law judges or panels must not be published but are available for public inspection unless the confidentiality thereof is allowed or required by law.
Section 1-23-620. (A) The functions, duties, and powers of agencies and commissions to which this article applies, in regard to determining contested cases under Article 3 of this chapter, are devolved upon the Administrative Law Judge Division, provided that these agencies or commissions and the staffs thereof shall continue to retain those powers and duties regarding the setting of the date of the hearings on contested cases, regarding the obtaining and presentation of evidence and testimony for and at these hearings to the extent that only the decision-making authority and the appropriate functions, duties, and powers in regard thereto are devolved upon the Administrative Law Judge Division. Where the term `agency' or `commission' is used in Article 3 of this chapter relating to functions, duties, or powers in regard to determining contested cases, the term must be construed to mean the presiding administrative law judge.
(B) The functions, duties, and powers of the Workers' Compensation Commission or panels of it to review decisions made by single commissioners are also devolved upon the Administrative Law Judge Division. Where the term `commission' or `panel' or any similar variation is used in Title 42 or in any other provision of law relating to the functions, duties, or powers of the Workers' Compensation Commission or panels of it to review decisions made by single commissioners, these terms must be construed to mean the administrative law judge panels assigned to the appeal.
(C) Any time periods under Article 3 of this chapter or any other provision of law for the rendering of decisions in contested cases which are applicable to these agencies or commissions, as well as the applicable administrative law procedural provisions, also apply to the presiding administrative law judge. Any time periods under Title 42 or any other provision of law pertaining to the appeal from or rendering reviews concerning workers' compensation decisions from the single commissioner level also apply when these appeals and reviews are performed by administrative law judge panels in the manner provided by this article.
(D) Circuit court rules in these administrative law division hearings also apply when administrative law procedural rules contained in Article 3 of this chapter, in Title 42, or in other provisions of law are not applicable to or do not provide for the question involved.
(E) Where the court of common pleas is empowered to take certain action under Article 3 of this chapter or under Title 42, this authority is devolved upon the presiding administrative law judge or panel, provided that the above provision does not apply in regard to appeals from final decisions or orders in contested cases, to final decisions or orders concerning workers' compensation appeals from the single commissioner level, or to interlocutory appeals during these proceedings. Interlocutory appeals directly to the Supreme Court from any ruling or action of the presiding administrative law judge or panel during the hearing or proceeding are allowed, except that the hearing or proceeding in all other respects must not be stayed during the pendency of the interlocutory appeal.
(F) Where appropriations to the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, the Tax Commission, or the Workers' Compensation Commission in the annual general appropriations act, or where fees, fines, forfeitures or revenues imposed or collected by these agencies or commissions were required to be used for the hearing of contested cases involving the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, or the Tax Commission or for reviews of workers' compensation decisions from the single commissioner level, such appropriations or monies must continue to be used for these purposes after the effective date of this article in the manner the Budget and Control Board shall direct.
Section 1-23-630. Each of the judges of the division has the same power at chambers or in open hearing as do circuit court judges, and to issue those remedial writs as are necessary to give effect to its jurisdiction.
Section 1-23-640. The division shall maintain its principal offices in the City of Columbia. However, judges of the division shall hear contested cases at the offices or location of the involved agency or commission as prescribed by the agency or commission, and may hear workers' compensation appeals from the single commissioner level at suitable locations outside the City of Columbia as determined by the chief administrative law judge.
Section 1-23-650. The Administrative Law Judge Division through its judges is authorized to promulgate those regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this article."
SECTION 2. Section 42-3-20 of the 1976 Code is
amended to read:
"Section 42-3-20. The commission shall consist of seven members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for terms of six years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. The Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate shall designate one commissioner as chairman for a term of two years and the chairman may serve two terms in his six-year term but not consecutively. The commissioners shall hear and determine all contested cases, conduct informal conferences when necessary, approve settlements, hear applications for full commission reviews and handle such other matters as may come before the department for judicial disposition. Full commission reviews shall be conducted by six commissioners only, with the original hearing commissioner not sitting at such reviews. When one commissioner is temporarily incapacitated or a vacancy exists on the commission, reviews may be conducted by the five remaining commissioners but in such cases decisions of the hearing commissioner shall not be reversed except on the vote of at least four commissioners; provided, however, that effective July 1, 1981 full commission reviews may be conducted by three-member panels composed of three commissioners appointed by the chairman excluding the original hearing commissioner. The chairman, with unanimous approval of the other commissioners, shall determine which full commission reviews shall be assigned to panels. The decisions of such panels shall have the same force and effect as nonpanel full commission reviews."
SECTION 3. The administrative law judges of the Administrative Law Judge Division established by this act shall begin hearing contested cases and workers' compensation appeals from the single commissioner level, as provided in this act, six months after the six judges of the division have been appointed and qualify.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.