Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 5, Part 3.

This bill revises various portions of the contested case provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, as follows: (1) Present law requires an administrative judge or hearing officer to make a motion prior to deciding a procedural question of law. This bill removes the requirement that the judge or officer make a motion prior to deciding a procedural question. This bill removes a similar motion requirement in provisions whereby the judge or officer may direct the parties, the attorneys of the parties, or both to appear before the administrative judge or hearing officer for a conference to consider certain issues and matters. (2) This bill authorizes the director of the administrative procedures division of the secretary of state's office to issue subpoenas on behalf of an administrative judge employed by the secretary of state. (3) Present law authorizes an administrative judge or hearing officer and agency members to conduct, by agreement of the parties, all or part of a hearing via telephone, television, or other electronic means. This bill adds authorization for the testimony of a witness by contemporaneous audio-visual transmission from a different location when the absence of the witness would otherwise cause a delay to the hearing. (4) Under present law, an agency with statutory authority to decide a contested case must render a final order; and if an administrative judge or hearing officer hears a case alone, the administrative judge or hearing officer must render an initial order, which becomes a final order unless reviewed in accordance with present law. Present law provides that such a final order or initial order must be rendered in writing within 90 days after conclusion of the hearing or after submission of proposed findings unless such period is waived or extended with the written consent of all parties or for good cause shown; this bill revises this provision to instead require that the order be rendered within 90 days of the completion of the record. (5) Under present law, any party, within 15 days after entry of an initial or final order from an agency, may file a petition for reconsideration, stating the specific grounds upon which relief is requested. This bill adds a petition for reconsideration of a final order that has become a final order by operation of law when no party timely filed a petition for reconsideration of an initial order or when the petition for reconsideration of an initial order was denied is not permitted. (6) Present law states that a party is not required to comply with a final order unless the final order has been mailed to the last known address of the party or the party has actual knowledge of the order. This bill adds as an authorized form of notice, the final order being delivered by electronic means to the last known address of the party. (7) Present law requires that a record, which may consist of a tape or electronic recording, be made of all oral proceedings of an agency. This bill adds digital recording to the list of forms a record may take. (8) This bill deletes the present law requirement that the administrative procedures division of the office of the secretary of state establish and maintain, in cooperation with the office of the attorney general, a pool of court reporters for agency administrative hearing proceedings before the licensing boards that are under the supervision of the departments of commerce and insurance and of health. ON MARCH 14, 2022, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1997, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 revises the present law provision under which, to the extent that a hearing is conducted by telephone, television or other electronic means, the availability of public observation is satisfied by giving members of the public an opportunity, at reasonable times, to hear the tape recording and to inspect any transcript obtained by the agency. This amendment rewrites this provision to instead provide that, to the extent that a hearing is conducted telephonically, electronically, or by audio-visual means, the availability of public observation may be satisfied by giving members of the public an opportunity, at reasonable times, to hear or view a recording, as applicable, and to inspect any transcript obtained by the agency. This amendment also revises the present law provisions described above in (4) of the bill summary regarding rendering a final or initial order within 90 days of the completion of the record to instead require that the final or initial order be rendered in writing within 90 days of: (1) The filing of the tape recording, stenographic notes or symbols, or transcript of the hearing, if requested on the record by the administrative judge or hearing officer, or the filing of the proposed findings. If both are filed, then the order must be rendered within 90 days of the latter filing; or (2) The completion of the hearing, if neither of the filings in item (1) are requested by the administrative judge or hearing officer. This amendment specifies, in the provision described above in (6) of the bill summary, that the order may be sent to the party's attorney or the party. In regard to the present law requirement that a record must be made of all oral proceedings, this amendment clarifies the provision of this bill that exempts prehearing conferences from that requirement.