La. Admin. Code tit. 55 § III-201

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section III-201 - Suspension, Revocation or Cancellation of License, Administrative Hearings

A. The following administrative regulations shall apply to all hearings conducted under the statutory authority of the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and which concern matters arising out of actions taken by the state police or the Office of Motor Vehicles.

1. Renewal. All administrative hearings shall be public and shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act (R.S. 49:950 et seq.) and the rules set forth herein.

2. Control of Hearings. All administrative hearings will be conducted and controlled by an administrative law judge or the chief administrative law judge.

3. Notice. The Secretary of Public Safety Services or his representative shall give notice of the time and place of all administrative hearings not less than 10 days in advance of the hearing date. He shall give such notice to all persons whose pecuniary interest is to be directly and immediately affected by such hearing.

4. Mailing Address. The notice of hearing shall be mailed to the party requesting the hearing at the last known address provided to the department.

5. Assignment of Hearing; Discovery; Expert Witnesses

a. Each hearing shall be assigned for a specific time, date and place to an individual administrative law judge.

b. Except for implied consent cases, discovery may be obtained by written agreement between the parties, provided that such discovery does not interfere with or postpone a scheduled hearing date. Due to the time constraints placed by law on suspension of driver's licenses, discovery in implied consent hearings will be confined to inspection or copying of the documents in the prima facie case presented by the state. Any interested person may inspect or copy any documents in the case file after it has been supplied to the presiding administrative law judge. Otherwise, documents may be inspected or copied by request made to any other section within the department upon compliance with the rules of that section. Copies may be made by means of any copying device supplied by the person desiring copies.

c. Expert witnesses may be subpoenaed at the request of any party upon receipt of a money order, cashier's check or attorney check, made payable in the name of each expert witness in whatever amount has been agreed to between the party requesting the subpoena and the witness. The request to subpoena the expert witness should accompany the request for the hearing, but in any case must be made in writing addressed to the Administrative Hearing Section, postmarked or received at least 15 days prior to the date fixed for hearing, and must provide the full name and address of the witness to whom the subpoena is to be directed, plus a summary of the opinion testimony expected to be adduced.

d. The administrative law judge shall evaluate the qualifications of the witness prior to being accepted as an expert and prior to any testimony being taken.

6. Summary Disposition

a. At any time after scheduling, a written request may be filed by any interested party for summary disposition thereof on any of the following grounds:

i. that the administrative law judge lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter, or over the person against whom relief is sought;

ii. that the notice of hearing has not been made in the required manner or within the prescribed period of delay;

iii. that the action has become moot;

iv. that a party has failed to appear at the time fixed for hearing, without having been granted a continuance;

v. that the written notice of hearing expressing the cause of action does not constitute a ground for revocation or suspension.

b. Any request for summary disposition, when made prior to the date fixed for hearing, may be supported by admissions of fact and written argument or briefs.

c. If the administrative law judge conducting the hearing denies the request or refers it to the merits, he may reconsider same at any time prior to final disposition of the action.

d. The administrative law judge conducting the hearing may, at any time summarily dispose of an appeal or action on any of the grounds listed in Paragraph 1 above.

7. Location of Hearings. The hearings shall be conducted in a place convenient and accessible to the public, selected by the secretary. With the consent of the secretary, his representative, the chief administrative law judge or the administrative law judge, the parties may agree to any place of public accessibility within the state of Louisiana for any hearing.

8. Continuance or Reschedule of Hearings

a. Once a hearing has begun, it may be continued without prejudice to either party:

i. by the secretary or the chief administrative law judge upon submission of justification deemed adequate by them;

ii. by the administrative law judge conducting the hearing for cause deemed sufficient at that time; or

iii. if time does not permit completion of the hearing on the scheduled date.

b. A hearing may, when proven necessary, be rescheduled by the administrative law judge, with the approval of the chief administrative law judge.

c. No continuances of scheduled administrative hearings shall be granted except for compelling cause or to serve the ends of justice.

9. Representation of Parties. All parties shall have the right to be represented by counsel, but shall not be required to be so represented. Any such counsel representing a party to an administrative hearing must be duly licensed to practice law in the state of Louisiana. When any party is represented by more than one attorney in any hearing, only one attorney for any such party shall be permitted to examine the same witness.

10. Evidence. The admissibility of evidence submitted at any administrative hearing shall be governed by the Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act (R.S. 49:950 et seq.). Departmental records, papers, documents and other written exhibits may be offered in evidence at the hearing by either a representative of the agency involved or by documentary submission by the agency involved. All such evidence shall be available for inspection by all parties. All testimony adduced at the administrative hearing will be recorded and shall be taken under oath.

11. Written Statements. Affidavits or other ex-parte statements may be received in evidence in an administrative hearing; however, all parties shall be given an opportunity to inspect such statements prior to their admission into the record.

12. Stipulation. The parties may be required by the administrative law judge to stipulate to any or all undisputed facts.

13. Corroboration. The presentation of corroborative evidence may be limited by the administrative law judge conducting the hearing in the event same is merely repetitive or relevant.

14. Sequestration. The administrative law judge conducting the administrative hearing, whether or not at the request of any party, may order that the witnesses in any such hearing be sequestered so as to preclude any witness from hearing the testimony of any other witness.

15. Oral Argument. The administrative law judge conducting the hearing may limit the total time to be allowed for oral argument, according to the circumstances of each case. Except with special leave, only one attorney may be permitted to present oral argument for any party to an administrative hearing. Any party may request leave of the administrative law judge to submit written arguments at the conclusion of a hearing within a time limit to be specified by the administrative law judge. A copy of all such written arguments must be served on all parties, or on their counsel, and shall be certified by the writer.

16. Subpoena of Witnesses and Production of Documents

a. The administrative law judge, chief administrative law judge, the secretary or his representative shall have the power to compel the appearance of witnesses and the production of documents, books and papers pertinent to the issues involved in any administrative hearing, provided such witnesses, documents, books and papers are within the state of Louisiana.

b. Any party desiring the issuance of a subpoena for any witness at an administrative hearing must apply for it in writing properly addressed to the Administrative Hearing Section, postmarked or received at least 15 days prior to the date fixed for the hearing and must provide the full name and address of the witness to whom the subpoena is to be directed, specifying the purpose for which such witness is subpoenaed. Each such request must be accompanied by a money order, certified check or check drawn on the account of an attorney made payable to the order of the witness whose presence is requested in the amount of $15 for each witness who is not a law enforcement officer or $25 for each witness who is a law enforcement officer for issuing said subpoenas.

c. Any party desiring the production of books, papers or other documents at any administrative hearing must apply for an appropriate order in writing properly addressed to the Administrative Hearing Section, and postmarked or received at least 15 days prior to the date fixed for the hearing. Such application must describe the items to be produced in sufficient detail for identification and must give the full name and address of the person required to make such production, and must state briefly the purposes for which the items are being subpoenaed. All such requests must be accompanied by a money order, certified check or check drawn on the account of an attorney made payable to the department in the amount of $15 for each person or entity which is requested to produce said documents at the hearing.

d. Authentic copies of books, papers or other documents in the custody of any department, board or agency of the state, or any subdivision thereof, which have been subpoenaed may be admitted in evidence with the same effect as the originals.

e. The administrative law judge, chief administrative law judge, the secretary or his representative, for cause deemed sufficient, may issue an appropriate order at any time recalling any subpoena, subpoena duces tecum or request issued under the provisions of this rule.

f. No subpoena or subpoena duces tecum or request for production of documents shall be issued until the party who requests the subpoena of said documents first deposits with the department a sum of money sufficient to pay all of the fees and expenses of issuing said subpoenas set forth in Subparagraphs b and c above.

17. Non-Appearance. If a party fails to appear at the place and time fixed for any hearing, the hearing may be dismissed or the administrative law judge conducting said hearing may, in his discretion, continue the case or proceed with the hearing and render a decision upon such evidence as may be adduced at said hearing.

18. Interlocutory Ruling

a. Formal exceptions to any interlocutory rulings or orders are unnecessary if, at the time the ruling is made or the order is communicated, the party objecting shall make known via objection and the grounds therefor on the record.

b. The administrative law judge conducting the administrative hearing may at any time prior to a final decision, recall, reverse or revise any interlocutory ruling or order made in connection with the hearing.

19. Decision. Within a reasonable time following the conclusion of an administrative hearing, the administrative law judge shall make a written decision containing findings of fact and conclusions of law. The decision of the administrative law judge shall be final 10 days after the date of the notice of decision by the department, unless a timely request for rehearing, reopening or reconsideration is received. Copies shall be furnished to all interested parties.

20. Rehearings

a. Any administrative decision rendered shall be subject to reopening, rehearing or reconsideration by written application to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections postmarked or received within 10 days from the date of mailing of the notice of decision by the department. The grounds for any such rehearing, reopening or reconsideration shall be either that:

i. the decision is clearly contrary to the law and the evidence adduced;

ii. a party has discovered, since the hearing, evidence material to the issues presented which could not have, with due diligence, been obtained prior to the hearing;

iii. there is a convincing showing that issues not previously considered should be examined in order to properly dispose of the issues raised; or

iv. there are other good grounds for further reconsideration of the issues and the evidence, in the public interest.

b. A rehearing, reopening or reconsideration of an administrative hearing may be granted only by the chief administrative law judge, the secretary or his representative.

c. An application for a rehearing, reconsideration or re-opening shall set forth the grounds which justify such action. Nothing in this Section shall prevent a rehearing, reopening or reconsideration of a matter by the department in accordance with any statutory provisions applicable, or on account of any fraud practiced by the prevailing party or by the use of perjured testimony or fictitious evidence. Any hearing upon an application for reconsideration, rehearing or reopening shall be strictly confined to the issues raised in such application. If an application for reconsideration, rehearing or reopening has been denied, the period within which judicial review must be sought shall run from the date of the notice of denial.

21. Appeal Costs. In all instances where judicial review of a final decision is sought by a party from any administrative hearing, the secretary shall require the party appealing to deposit with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections all costs of preparing a transcript of the hearing. The cost of the transcript shall be the sum of $50 per recorded side of each standard cassette utilized in recording the hearing. These costs must be paid by the appellant-party before preparation of the transcript will be requested by the department.

22. Recusation. The administrative law judge conducting an administrative hearing shall withdraw from any adjudicative proceeding in which he cannot accord a fair and impartial hearing or other consideration or which he has a conflict of interest. Any party may request a disqualification of such administrative law judge by filing an affidavit setting forth the succinct grounds therefor. Said application for disqualification may be determined ex-parte by the chief administrative law judge or the secretary or, may be determined at a hearing to be conducted contradictorily with the department.

La. Admin. Code tit. 55, § III-201

Promulgated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, LR 15:1095 (December 1989), amended LR 17:971 (October 1991).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 32:408 et seq.