§ 150B-23. Commencement; assignment of administrative law judge; hearing required; notice; intervention.
§ 150B‑23. Commencement; assignment of administrative law judge; hearing required; notice;intervention.
(a) A contested caseshall be commenced by paying a fee in an amount established in G.S. 150B‑23.2and by filing a petition with the Office of Administrative Hearings and, exceptas provided in Article 3A of this Chapter, shall be conducted by that Office.The party who files the petition shall serve a copy of the petition on allother parties and, if the dispute concerns a license, the person who holds thelicense. A party who files a petition shall file a certificate of servicetogether with the petition. A petition shall be signed by a party or arepresentative of the party and, if filed by a party other than an agency,shall state facts tending to establish that the agency named as the respondenthas deprived the petitioner of property, has ordered the petitioner to pay afine or civil penalty, or has otherwise substantially prejudiced thepetitioner's rights and that the agency:
(1) Exceeded its authorityor jurisdiction;
(2) Acted erroneously;
(3) Failed to use properprocedure;
(4) Acted arbitrarily orcapriciously; or
(5) Failed to act asrequired by law or rule.
The parties in a contested caseshall be given an opportunity for a hearing without undue delay. Any personaggrieved may commence a contested case hereunder.
A local government employee,applicant for employment, or former employee to whom Chapter 126 of the GeneralStatutes applies may commence a contested case under this Article in the samemanner as any other petitioner. The case shall be conducted in the same manneras other contested cases under this Article, except that the State PersonnelCommission shall enter final decisions only in cases in which it is found thatthe employee, applicant, or former employee has been subjected todiscrimination prohibited by Article 6 of Chapter 126 of the General Statutesor in any case where a binding decision is required by applicable federalstandards. In these cases, the State Personnel Commission's decision shall bebinding on the local appointing authority. In all other cases, the finaldecision shall be made by the applicable appointing authority.
(a1) Repealed by SessionLaws 1985 (Regular Session, 1986), c. 1022, s. 1(9).
(a2) An administrativelaw judge assigned to a contested case may require a party to the case to filea prehearing statement. A party's prehearing statement must be served on allother parties to the contested case.
(b) The parties to acontested case shall be given a notice of hearing not less than 15 days beforethe hearing by the Office of Administrative Hearings. If prehearing statementshave been filed in the case, the notice shall state the date, hour, and placeof the hearing. If prehearing statements have not been filed in the case, thenotice shall state the date, hour, place, and nature of the hearing, shall listthe particular sections of the statutes and rules involved, and shall give ashort and plain statement of the factual allegations.
(c) Notice shall begiven personally or by certified mail. If given by certified mail, it shall bedeemed to have been given on the delivery date appearing on the return receipt.If giving of notice cannot be accomplished either personally or by certifiedmail, notice shall then be given in the manner provided in G.S. 1A‑1,Rule 4(j1).
(d) Any person maypetition to become a party by filing a motion to intervene in the mannerprovided in G.S. 1A‑1, Rule 24. In addition, any person interested in acontested case may intervene and participate in that proceeding to the extentdeemed appropriate by the administrative law judge.
(e) All hearings underthis Chapter shall be open to the public. Hearings shall be conducted in animpartial manner. Hearings shall be conducted according to the procedures setout in this Article, except to the extent and in the particulars that specifichearing procedures and time standards are governed by another statute.
(f) Unless anotherstatute or a federal statute or regulation sets a time limitation for thefiling of a petition in contested cases against a specified agency, the generallimitation for the filing of a petition in a contested case is 60 days. Thetime limitation, whether established by another statute, federal statute, orfederal regulation, or this section, shall commence when notice is given of theagency decision to all persons aggrieved who are known to the agency bypersonal delivery or by the placing of the notice in an official depository ofthe United States Postal Service wrapped in a wrapper addressed to the personat the latest address given by the person to the agency. The notice shall be inwriting, and shall set forth the agency action, and shall inform the persons ofthe right, the procedure, and the time limit to file a contested case petition.When no informal settlement request has been received by the agency prior toissuance of the notice, any subsequent informal settlement request shall notsuspend the time limitation for the filing of a petition for a contested casehearing. (1973,c. 1331, s. 1; 1975, 2nd Sess., c. 983, s. 65; 1985, c. 746, s. 1; 1985 (Reg.Sess., 1986), c. 1022, ss. 1(9), (10), 6(2), (3); 1987, c. 878, ss. 3‑5;c. 879, s. 6.1; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1111, s. 5; 1991, c. 35, s. 1; 1993(Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 572, s. 2; 2009‑451, s. 21A.1(a).)