Administrative Law Flashcards

The Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) was created to:

Answer: Provide an independent central panel of administrative law judges to hear contested cases delegated by state agencies

The OAH is Maryland's independent central panel whose ALJs conduct contested case hearings delegated by state agencies.

A Maryland agency delegates a contested case to the OAH but retains final decision-making authority. The ALJ issues a proposed decision. The agency head may:

Answer: Modify or reject the ALJ's proposed conclusions, but must state reasons on the record and generally defer to demeanor-based credibility findings

When authority is retained, the agency head may modify a proposed decision with stated reasons, though first-level credibility findings based on demeanor receive special deference.

A petition for judicial review of a Maryland agency's final contested case decision generally must be filed within:

Answer: 30 days after the party receives notice of the final decision

Maryland Rule 7-203 generally requires the petition for judicial review to be filed within 30 days of notice of the final agency decision.

Under Maryland law, an agency's interpretation of a statute it administers is:

Answer: Given considerable weight, but the court retains ultimate authority over questions of law

Maryland courts give an administering agency's statutory interpretation considerable weight but decide legal questions independently.

During a contested case hearing in Maryland, the rules of evidence:

Answer: Are relaxed — probative evidence that reasonable and prudent persons rely on may be admitted even if inadmissible in court

Maryland contested case hearings admit probative evidence of the kind reasonable and prudent persons commonly rely on, even if it would be inadmissible under courtroom evidence rules.

Hearsay evidence in a Maryland administrative hearing:

Answer: May be admitted and can even constitute the sole basis for a finding if it is credible and probative

In Maryland administrative proceedings, reliable and probative hearsay may be admitted and may alone support a factual finding.

A Maryland licensee facing disciplinary revocation claims a due process violation because the agency both investigated and adjudicated the case. This combination of functions:

Answer: Does not by itself violate due process absent a showing of actual bias

The mere combination of investigative and adjudicative functions in one agency does not violate due process without evidence of actual bias.