Bill Text: HI HB847 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To The Office Of Administrative Adjudications.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-16 - The committee(s) on JHA recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HB847 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HB847-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	847
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to the office of administrative adjudications.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that in most federal agencies and in many state, territorial, and local jurisdictions, administrative adjudications take place within agencies that combine regulatory, enforcement, prosecutorial, and adjudicatory authority in a single agency.  The legislature believes that this combination of functions creates a potential conflict of interest.  The legislature also believes that this combination of functions may also compromise the integrity of administrative adjudications and is often perceived as unfair by the litigants opposing the agencies.

     The legislature also finds that the conflict of interest inherent in the same agency acting as both prosecutor and judge has led to the establishment of state central hearing agencies, also known as central panels.  In central panels, an independent administrative law judge presides over the administrative litigation, and this judge is completely independent of the agency prosecutorial functions.  Approximately twenty-nine state and local jurisdictions have addressed this conflict by creating a central hearing agency.

     The purpose of this Act is to have the department of the attorney general, in conjunction with the department of commerce and consumer affairs, department of health, and other affected agencies, conduct a study relating to the establishment of a centralized office of administrative adjudications in the executive branch of state government and report to the legislature prior to the convening of the regular session of 2022.  The study and report shall be based on the guidelines established by this Act.

     SECTION 2.  (a)  The department of the attorney general, in conjunction with the department of commerce and consumer affairs, department of health, and other affected agencies, shall conduct a study relating to the establishment of a state central hearing agency to be known as the office of administrative adjudications (office).  The office shall operate as an independent agency in the executive branch of state government for the purpose of separating the adjudicatory function from the investigatory, prosecutorial, and policy-making functions of agencies in the executive branch.

     (b)  The office shall not replace the hearings functions of:

     (1)  Agencies in the political subdivisions of the State;

     (2)  An agency of the legislature;

     (3)  An agency of the judiciary;

     (4)  The office of the governor; or

     (5)  The office of the lieutenant governor.

     SECTION 3. (a)  The department of the attorney general's study shall review the existing administrative hearings system to:

     (1)  Identify the departments and agencies that conduct hearings or delegate that authority to another agency;

     (2)  Determine and identify the placement of the hearings agency in the department's organization;

     (3)  Identify and quantify the personnel and state resources that are necessary to operate each hearings agency;

     (4)  Identify and determine the types of issues and subjects that are subject to the hearings jurisdiction;

     (5)  Identify and determine the process to appeal a decision of each agency's administrative hearing, including chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and rights to and process for judicial appeals; and

     (6)  Identify potential legal conflicts and barriers that affect each agency's administrative hearings jurisdiction.

     SECTION 4.  The department of the attorney general shall submit a report of:

     (1)  Findings and recommendation from studies conducted pursuant to sections 2 and 3;

     (2)  The appropriateness, feasibility, and cost effects of establishing and operating an office of administrative adjudications; and

     (3)  Recommendations, including proposed legislation, to establish and implement an office of administrative adjudications.

     The report shall be provided to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2022.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2021.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Office of Administrative Adjudications; Department of the Attorney General; Report

 

Description:

Requires the department of the attorney general to study and submit a report to the legislature on the feasibility and cost effect of establishing an office of administrative adjudications that conducts administrative hearings for the State's executive branch agencies.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.