10A.601 - EMPLOYMENT APPEAL BOARD -- CREATED -- DUTIES.
10A.601 EMPLOYMENT APPEAL BOARD -- CREATED --
DUTIES.
1. A full-time employment appeal board is created within the
department of inspections and appeals to hear and decide contested
cases under chapter 8A, subchapter IV, and chapters 80, 88, 91C, 96,
and 97B.
2. The employment appeal board is composed of three members
appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate, to
six-year staggered terms beginning and ending as provided in section
69.19. One member shall be qualified by experience and affiliation
to represent employers, one member shall be qualified by experience
and affiliation to represent employees, and one member shall
represent the general public. No more than two members shall be
members of the same political party. A vacancy in membership shall
be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. A member
of the appeal board may be removed by the governor for inefficiency,
neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The members of the
employment appeal board shall receive an annual salary as set by the
governor.
3. The members of the appeal board shall select a chairperson and
vice chairperson from their membership. The appeal board shall meet
at least once per month but may meet as often as necessary. Meetings
shall be set by a majority of the appeal board or upon the call of
the chairperson, or in the chairperson's absence, upon the call of
the vice chairperson. The employment appeal board, subject to the
approval of the director, may appoint personnel necessary for
carrying out its functions and duties.
4. The appeal board may on its own motion affirm, modify, or set
aside a decision of an administrative law judge on the basis of the
evidence previously submitted in the contested case, or direct the
taking of additional evidence, or may permit any of the parties to
the decision to initiate further appeals before the appeal board.
The appeal board shall permit further appeal by any of the parties
interested in a decision of an administrative law judge and by the
representative whose decision has been overruled or modified by the
administrative law judge. The appeal board shall review the case
pursuant to rules adopted by the appeal board. The appeal board
shall promptly notify the interested parties of its findings and
decision.
5. The appeal board may order testimony to be taken by
deposition, and may compel persons to appear and testify and to
produce books, papers, and documents in the same manner as witnesses
may be deposed and compelled to appear and testify and produce
documentary evidence before the district court. In the discharge of
the duties imposed by this chapter, the chairperson of the appeal
board and any duly authorized representative designated by the appeal
board, may administer oaths and affirmations, take depositions,
certify official acts, and issue subpoenas. Persons deposed or
compelled to testify or produce documentary evidence shall be allowed
the same fees and traveling expenses as allowed witnesses in the
district court.
6. The appeal board shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
establish the manner in which contested cases are to be presented,
reports are to be required from the parties, and hearings and appeals
are to be conducted. The appeal board shall keep a full and complete
record of all proceedings in connection with a contested case. All
testimony at a hearing shall be recorded, but need not be transcribed
unless the contested case is further appealed. The appeal board
shall retain the record for at least sixty days following the final
date for appeal of a contested case. A decision of the appeal board
is final agency action and an appeal of the decision shall be made
directly to the district court. Any party to a contested case may
appeal the decision to the district court.
7. An application for rehearing before the appeal board shall be
filed pursuant to section 17A.16, unless otherwise provided in
chapter 8A, subchapter IV, or chapter 80, 88, 91C, 96, or 97B. A
petition for judicial review of a decision of the appeal board shall
be filed pursuant to section 17A.19. The appeal board may be
represented in any such judicial review by an attorney who is a
regular salaried employee of the appeal board or who has been
designated by the appeal board for that purpose, or at the appeal
board's request, by the attorney general. Notwithstanding the
petitioner's residency requirement in section 17A.19, subsection 2, a
petition for judicial review may be filed in the district court of
the county in which the petitioner was last employed or resides,
provided that if the petitioner does not reside in this state, the
action shall be brought in the district court of Polk county, Iowa,
and any other party to the proceeding before the appeal board shall
be named in the petition. Notwithstanding the thirty-day requirement
in section 17A.19, subsection 6, the appeal board shall, within sixty
days after filing of the petition for judicial review or within a
longer period of time allowed by the court, transmit to the reviewing
court the original or a certified copy of the entire records of a
contested case. The appeal board may also certify to the court,
questions of law involved in any decision by the appeal board.
Petitions for judicial review and the questions so certified shall be
given precedence over all other civil cases except cases arising
under the workers' compensation law of this state. No bond shall be
required for entering an appeal from any final order, judgment, or
decree of the district court to the supreme court. Section History: Recent Form
86 Acts, ch 1245, § 515; 88 Acts, ch 1025, §1; 88 Acts, ch 1162,
§10; 88 Acts, ch 1109, §3; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §129; 2004 Acts, ch
1107, §1, 30
Referred to in § 80.15, 88.3, 88.9, 91C.8, 96.6, 96.19, 97B.27
Confirmation, see §2.32