Administrative Law Flashcards

A Colorado agency issues a 'declaratory order' at a regulated party's request. The purpose of such an order under the APA is to:

Answer: Terminate a controversy or remove uncertainty about how a statute or rule applies to the petitioner

C.R.S. § 24-4-105(11) authorizes declaratory orders to terminate controversies or remove uncertainties as to the applicability of statutes, rules, or orders.

The nondelegation doctrine in Colorado requires that when the General Assembly delegates power to an agency, it must provide:

Answer: Sufficient standards and safeguards to guide the agency's exercise of discretion

Delegations are valid if the legislature supplies sufficient standards and procedural safeguards to protect against arbitrary agency action.

A party appearing before a Colorado agency claims the hearing officer was biased. To disqualify the decision-maker on due process grounds, the party generally must show:

Answer: Actual bias or circumstances creating an intolerably high risk of prejudgment, overcoming the presumption of integrity

Administrative adjudicators are presumed impartial, and disqualification requires actual bias or an unacceptable risk of prejudgment.

Which statement best describes the effect of an agency's failure to follow its own procedural rules in a Colorado adjudication?

Answer: The action may be set aside if the violation prejudiced the complaining party's substantial rights

Reviewing courts set aside agency action for procedural violations that prejudice substantial rights, applying a harmless-error approach otherwise.

Under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), a custodian who denies inspection of a public record must, upon request, provide:

Answer: A written statement of the grounds for denial citing the statute or authority relied on

CORA requires the custodian to provide a written statement of the grounds for denial, citing the supporting law, upon the applicant's request.

A Colorado agency seeks to impose a fine through an adjudication but the governing statute nowhere authorizes monetary penalties. The resulting order is:

Answer: Invalid because agencies possess only the powers granted expressly or by necessary implication

As creatures of statute, Colorado agencies may exercise only powers conferred expressly or by necessary implication, so an unauthorized fine is ultra vires.

After exceptions are filed to an ALJ's initial decision, the Colorado agency head reviewing the decision may reverse the ALJ's findings of evidentiary fact only if they are:

Answer: Contrary to the weight of the evidence

Under C.R.S. § 24-4-105(15), the agency may set aside an ALJ's findings of evidentiary fact only if contrary to the weight of the evidence.