By: Armbrister S.B. No. 331
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to procedures in a contested case in which the hearing is
1-2 conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 2003.042, Government Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 2003.042. POWERS OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE. An
1-7 administrative law judge employed by the office or a temporary
1-8 administrative law judge may:
1-9 (1) administer an oath;
1-10 (2) take testimony;
1-11 (3) rule on a question of evidence;
1-12 (4) [subject to review by the state agency before
1-13 which the contested case is brought,] issue an order relating to
1-14 discovery or another hearing or prehearing matter, including an
1-15 order imposing a sanction [that the agency may impose]; and
1-16 (5) issue a proposal for decision that includes
1-17 findings of fact and conclusions of law.
1-18 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 2003, Government Code, is
1-19 amended by adding Section 2003.0421 to read as follows:
1-20 Sec. 2003.0421. SANCTIONS. (a) An administrative law judge
1-21 employed by the office or a temporary administrative law judge, on
1-22 the judge's own motion or on motion of a party and after notice and
1-23 an opportunity for a hearing, may impose appropriate sanctions as
2-1 provided by Subsection (b) against a party or its representative
2-2 for:
2-3 (1) filing a motion or pleading that is groundless and
2-4 brought:
2-5 (A) in bad faith;
2-6 (B) for the purpose of harassment; or
2-7 (C) for any other improper purpose, such as to
2-8 cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of the
2-9 proceeding;
2-10 (2) abuse of the discovery process in seeking, making,
2-11 or resisting discovery; or
2-12 (3) failure to obey an order of the administrative law
2-13 judge or of the state agency on behalf of which the hearing is
2-14 being conducted.
2-15 (b) A sanction imposed under Subsection (a) may include, as
2-16 appropriate and justified, issuance of an order:
2-17 (1) disallowing further discovery of any kind or of a
2-18 particular kind by the offending party;
2-19 (2) charging all or any part of the expenses of
2-20 discovery against the offending party or its representatives;
2-21 (3) holding that designated facts be considered
2-22 admitted for purposes of the proceeding;
2-23 (4) refusing to allow the offending party to support
2-24 or oppose a designated claim or defense or prohibiting the party
2-25 from introducing designated matters in evidence;
3-1 (5) disallowing in whole or in part requests for
3-2 relief by the offending party and excluding evidence in support of
3-3 those requests; and
3-4 (6) striking pleadings or testimony, or both, in whole
3-5 or in part.
3-6 (c) This section does not apply to a contested case in which
3-7 the hearing is conducted by an administrative law judge on behalf
3-8 of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission or the Public
3-9 Utility Commission of Texas.
3-10 SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 2003, Government Code, is
3-11 amended by adding Section 2003.050 to read as follows:
3-12 Sec. 2003.050. PROCEDURAL RULES. (a) The chief
3-13 administrative law judge shall adopt rules that govern the
3-14 procedures, including the discovery procedures, that relate to a
3-15 hearing conducted by the office.
3-16 (b) Notwithstanding other law, the procedural rules of the
3-17 state agency on behalf of which the hearing is conducted govern
3-18 procedural matters that relate to the hearing only to the extent
3-19 that the chief administrative law judge's rules adopt the agency's
3-20 procedural rules by reference.
3-21 SECTION 4. (a) The changes in law relating to procedural
3-22 rules under Section 2003.050, Government Code, as added by this
3-23 Act, take effect January 1, 1998, and apply only to a contested
3-24 case filed at a state agency on or after that date. A contested
3-25 case filed at a state agency before that date is governed by the
4-1 law in effect at the time the contested case is filed at the
4-2 agency, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-3 The State Office of Administrative Hearings may publish proposed
4-4 and adopted rules under Section 2003.050, Government Code, as added
4-5 by this Act, before January 1, 1998, so that the rules will be in
4-6 effect on that date.
4-7 (b) The changes in law made by this Act to Section 2003.042,
4-8 Government Code, and the changes in law relating to sanctions under
4-9 Section 2003.0421, Government Code, as added by this Act, take
4-10 effect September 1, 1997, and apply only to a contested case filed
4-11 at a state agency on or after that date. A contested case filed at
4-12 a state agency before that date is governed by the law in effect at
4-13 the time the contested case is filed at the agency, and the former
4-14 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-15 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.