Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings
The Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) is an independent, central panel agency that holds administrative hearings on behalf of certain agencies of the executive branch of the state government.[1] For example, it may hold hearings pertaining to the suspension or revocation of a driver's license,[2] and it also holds hearings when the Maryland Human Relations Commission determines that there is probable cause to believe that an employer or business has committed an act of discrimination.[3] The OAH conducts hearings in over 60,000 matters each year of which approximately one-half concern issues from the state Motor Vehicle Administration.[4]
In addition, the OAH provides a
The OAH has no state policy making authority, and in hearing a case uses the policies, regulations, and rules of the agency for which the OAH is conducting the hearing.[4] The OAH does have its own rules of procedure[6] which it uses to ensure a uniform application of administrative law in its decisions.
The main offices of the OAH are in Hunt Valley, although it holds hearings in all counties in the state.
Organization and authority
The OAH is headed by a Chief
The OAH is governed by state law, including title 9 subtitle 16 and title 10 subtitle 2 of the State Government article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
History
The OAH was created in 1990 by legislation enacted in 1989 to provide impartial and independent administrative law judges to hear agency cases.[4] Prior to that, each Maryland agency conducted its own hearings, an administrative process that was criticized as the deciding officer was either an employee or member of the agency, creating the possibility of a lack of impartiality.[4] In addition, there were no uniform training or qualifications for the 92 hearing examiners that were distributed among the various state agencies. The formation of the OAH allowed for a lesser number of administrative law judges, currently numbering around 60, to receive specialized training on administrative law.
See also
References
- ^ Md. Code Ann., State Govt. §§ 10-202, 10-203, 10-205
- ^ "Maryland State Department of Transportation - Motor Vehicle Administration". Archived from the original on 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ "Equal Opportunity for All" (PDF). Maryland Commission on Human Relations.
- ^ a b c d Rochvarg, Arnold (2007). Maryland Administrative Law (2nd ed.). Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Legal Education of Lawyers. pp. 27–32.
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- ^ "Maryland OAH 2006 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ Code of Maryland Regulations 28.02.01.
- ^ a b c d Md. Code Ann., State Govt. § 9-1600 et seq., "Office of Administrative Hearings."
- ^ Md. Code Ann., State Govt. § 10-222