House Bill 526

AN ACT TO CREATE THE OFFICE OF INDEPENDENT STATE HEARING OFFICERS TO PROVIDE HEARING OFFICERS TO CONDUCT HEARINGS, COMPILE EVIDENCE AND RENDER DECISIONS ON MATTERS FOR PERSONS OR ENTITIES THAT HAVE ISSUES BEFORE STATE AGENCIES; TO PROVIDE THAT THE OFFICE SHALL BE HEADED BY A DIRECTOR WHO IS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR FOR A TERM OF FOUR YEARS AND WHO MAY BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE ONLY FOR CAUSE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE OFFICE SHALL BE HOUSED AT THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION AND SHALL BE FUNDED FROM FUNDS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY APPROPRIATED TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR THAT PURPOSE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE DIRECTOR SHALL CONTRACT WITH AT LEAST FIVE PERSONS TO SERVE AS HEARING OFFICERS; TO PROVIDE THAT WHEN A PERSON OR ENTITY HAS AN ISSUE BEFORE A STATE AGENCY AND THE STATE AGENCY HAS ITS OWN HEARING OFFICER, THE PERSON OR ENTITY MAY ELECT AT ITS OPTION TO HAVE A HEARING OFFICER FROM THE OFFICE OF INDEPENDENT STATE HEARING OFFICERS HEAR AND DECIDE THE MATTERS AT ISSUE, AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO HAVING A HEARING OFFICER OF THE STATE AGENCY; TO PROVIDE THAT IF A PERSON OR ENTITY ELECTS TO HAVE A HEARING OFFICER FROM THE OFFICE, THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE SHALL ASSIGN ONE OF THE HEARING OFFICERS ON A ROTATING BASIS TO HEAR AND DECIDE THE MATTERS AT ISSUE; TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON OR ENTITY OR STATE AGENCY MAY APPEAL THE DECISION OF A HEARING OFFICER TO A PANEL OF THREE HEARING OFFICERS OF THE OFFICE WHO WERE NOT INVOLVED IN THE HEARING AND DECISION; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY PERSON OR ENTITY OR STATE AGENCY AGGRIEVED BY A FINAL DECISION OF THE APPEALS PANEL SHALL BE ENTITLED TO JUDICIAL REVIEW OF THE DECISION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) There is created the Office of Independent State Hearing Officers, which shall provide hearing officers to conduct hearings, compile evidence and render decisions on matters for persons or entities that have issues before state agencies. The office shall be headed by a director who is appointed by the Governor for a term of four (4) years and who may be removed from office only for cause. The office shall be housed at the Department of Finance and Administration and shall be funded from funds that are specifically appropriated to the department for that purpose.

(2) The director shall contract with at least five (5) persons to serve as hearing officers. Those persons must be experienced in conducting administrative hearings for governmental entities or participating in administrative hearings of governmental entities.

(3) When a person or entity has an issue before a state agency and the state agency has its own hearing officer or has the authority to appoint its own hearing officer, the person or entity may elect at its option to have a hearing officer from the Office of Independent State Hearing Officers hear and decide the matters at issue, as an alternative to having a hearing officer of the state agency. If a person or entity elects to have a hearing officer from the office, the director of the office shall assign one of the hearing officers to hear and decide the matters at issue. The director shall assign hearing officers on a rotating basis instead of assigning the same hearing officer to regularly hear and decide matters for a particular state agency.

(4) A person or entity or state agency may appeal the decision of a hearing officer of the office. The appeal shall be made to a panel of three (3) hearing officers of the office who were not involved in the hearing and decision. The proceedings before the appeals panel shall be de novo. The person or entity and the state agency is bound by and shall comply with the decision of the hearing officer, or if that decision is appealed, with the decision of the appeals panel, unless the person or entity or state agency appeals the decision as provided in subsection (5) of this section and the decision of the appeals panel is overturned after judicial review.

(5) Any person or entity or state agency aggrieved by a final decision of the appeals panel shall be entitled to judicial review of the decision in the manner provided in this subsection.

(a) An appeal may be taken by such person or entity or state agency to the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, by filing a petition with the clerk of the court and executing and filing bond payable to the State of Mississippi with sufficient sureties to be approved by the clerk of the court, in the penalty of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), conditioned upon the payment of all costs of appeal, including the cost of preparing the transcript of the hearing before the appeals panel. The petition and bond shall be filed within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the final decision of the appeals panel. Upon approval of the bond, the clerk of the court shall notify the appeals panel, which shall prepare its record in the matter and transmit it to the circuit court.

(b) The scope of review of the circuit court in such cases shall be limited to a review of the record made before the appeals panel to determine if the action of the appeals panel is unlawful for the reason that it was:

(i) Not supported by any substantial evidence;

(ii) Arbitrary or capricious; or

(iii) In violation of some statutory or constitutional right of the employee.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.