Section 22-4-17-12 - Disputed claims; appeal; errors of law; parties; transcript; expenses; assignment; disposition; findings of fact or conclusions(a) Any decision of the review board shall be conclusive and binding as to all questions of fact. Either party to the dispute or the commissioner may, within thirty (30) days after notice of intention to appeal as provided in this section, appeal the decision to the court of appeals of Indiana for errors of law under the same terms and conditions as govern appeals in ordinary civil actions.(b) In every appeal the review board shall be made a party appellee, and the review board shall, at the written request of the appellant and after payment of the uniform average fee required in subsection (c) is made, prepare a transcript of all the proceedings had before the administrative law judge and review board, which shall contain a transcript of all the testimony, together with all objections and rulings thereon, documents and papers introduced into evidence or offered as evidence, and all rulings as to their admission into evidence. The transcript shall be certified by the chairman of the review board and shall constitute the record upon appeal.(c) All expenses incurred in the preparation of the transcript shall be charged to the appellant. The fee for a transcript shall be the actual cost of preparation that may include the cost of materials, reproduction, postage, handling, and hours of service rendered by the preparer. The commissioner shall establish a uniform average fee to be paid by the appellant before the transcript is prepared. After the transcript is completed, the actual cost shall be determined and the appellant shall either pay the amount remaining above the uniform average fee or be refunded the amount the uniform average fee exceeds the actual cost of preparation. The commissioner shall establish the procedure by which transcript fees are determined and paid.(d) Notwithstanding subsections (b) and (c), the appellant may request that a transcript of all proceedings had before the administrative law judge and review board be prepared at no cost to the appellant by filing with the review board, under oath and in writing, a statement: (1) declaring that the appellant is unable to pay for the preparation of the transcript because of the appellant's poverty;(2) setting forth the facts that render the appellant unable to pay for the preparation of the transcript; and(3) declaring that the appellant is entitled to redress on appeal. Upon finding that the appellant is unable to pay for the preparation of the transcript because of the appellant's poverty, the review board shall prepare a transcript at no cost to the appellant.
(e) The review board may, upon its own motion, or at the request of either party upon a showing of sufficient reason, extend the limit within which the appeal shall be taken, not to exceed fifteen (15) days. In every case in which an extension is granted, the extension shall appear in the record of the proceeding filed in the court of appeals.(f) The appellant shall attach to the transcript an assignment of errors. An assignment of errors that the decision of the review board is contrary to law shall be sufficient to present both the sufficiency of the facts found to sustain the decision and the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings of facts. In any appeal under this section, no bond shall be required for entering the appeal.(g) All appeals shall be considered as submitted upon the date filed in the court of appeals, shall be advanced upon the docket of the court, and shall be determined without delay in the order of priority. Upon the final determination of the appeal, the review board shall enter an order in accordance with the determination, and the decision shall be final. The court of appeals may in any appeal remand the proceeding to the review board for the taking of additional evidence, setting time limits therefor, and ordering the additional evidence to be certified by the review board to the court of appeals to be used in the determination of the cause.(h) Any finding of fact, judgment, conclusion, or final order made by a person with the authority to make findings of fact or law in an action or proceeding under this article is not conclusive or binding and shall not be used as evidence in a separate or subsequent action or proceeding between an individual and the individual's present or prior employer in an action or proceeding brought before an arbitrator, a court, or a judge of this state or the United States regardless of whether the prior action was between the same or related parties or involved the same facts.(Formerly: Acts 1947, c.208, s.1812; Acts 1957, c.299, s.6.) As amended by P.L. 34-1985, SEC.9; P.L. 20-1986, SEC.11; P.L. 18-1987, SEC.50; P.L. 135-1990, SEC.14; P.L. 21-1995, SEC.90.