Title 03, Title 03: Executive

§ 808. Procedure to request declaratory rulings by agencies Each agency shall provide for the filing and prompt disposition of petitions for declaratory rulings as to the applicability of any statutory provision or of any rule or order of the agency, and may so provide by procedu…

§ 809. Contested cases; notice; hearing; records (a) In a contested case, all parties shall be given an opportunity for hearing after reasonable notice. (b) The notice shall include: (1) A statement of the time, place, and nature of the hearing. (2) A statement of the legal autho…

§ 809a. Enforcement of subpoenas; compulsion of testimony (a) This section applies when an agency has issued a subpoena to compel a person to appear and testify or to produce documents or things, if the person: (1) has failed to appear or has failed to produce the subpoenaed mate…

§ 809b. Modification of subpoena or discovery order (a) When an agency has issued a subpoena to compel testimony or the production of documents or things, or has issued a discovery order to a party, an aggrieved person may bring a proceeding to modify or vacate the subpoena or or…

§ 810. Rules of Evidence; official notice In contested cases: (1) Irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. The Rules of Evidence as applied in civil cases in the Superior Courts of this State shall be followed. When necessary to ascertain facts no…

§ 811. Examination of evidence by agency When in a contested case a majority of the officials of the agency who are to render the final decision have not heard the case or read the record, the decision, if adverse to a party to the proceeding other than the agency itself, shall n…

§ 812. Decisions and orders (a) A final decision or order adverse to a party in a contested case shall be in writing or stated in the record. A final decision shall include findings of fact and conclusions of law, separately stated. Findings of fact, if set forth in statutory lan…

§ 813. Ex parte consultations Unless required for the disposition of ex parte matters authorized by law, members or employees of any agency assigned to render a decision or to make findings of fact and conclusions of law in a contested case shall not communicate, directly or indi…

§ 814. Licenses (a) When the grant, denial, or renewal of a license is required to be preceded by notice and opportunity for hearing, the provisions of this chapter concerning contested cases shall apply. (b) When a licensee has made timely and sufficient application for the rene…

§ 815. Judicial review of contested cases (a) A person who has exhausted all administrative remedies available within the agency and who is aggrieved by a final decision in any contested case may appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, unless some other court is expressly prov…

§ 816. Exemptions (a) Sections 809-813 of this title shall not apply to: (1) Acts, decisions, findings, or determinations by the Human Services Board or the Commissioner for Children and Families or a duly authorized agent, and to procedures or hearings before and by the Board or…

§ 817. Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (a) There is created a joint legislative committee to be known as the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules. The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules shall be composed of eight members of the General Assembly t…

§ 818. Secretary of State; centralized rule system (a) The Secretary of State shall establish and maintain a centralized rule system that is open and available to the public. The system shall include all rules in effect or proposed as of July 1, 2019 and all rules proposed and ad…

§ 820. Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules (a) For assistance in the review, evaluation, and coordination of programs and activities of State agencies; the development of strategies for maximizing public input; and the promotion of consistent measures among agencies for…

§ 831. Required policy statements and rules (a) Where due process or a statute directs an agency to adopt rules, the agency shall initiate rulemaking and adopt rules in the manner provided by sections 836-844 of this title. (b) An agency shall adopt a procedure describing an exis…

§ 832. Exemptions; limitations (a) No agency shall be required to adopt a procedure or rule: (1) which may result in the disclosure of information considered by statute to be confidential; (2) setting forth guidelines to be used by the staff of an agency in the performance of aud…

§ 833. Style of rules (a) Rules and procedures shall be written in a clear and coherent manner using words with common and everyday meanings, consistent with the text of the rule or procedure. (b)(1) When an agency proposes to amend an existing rule, it shall replace terms identi…

§ 834. Periodic review of rules and forms (a) Upon written request to an agency by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, a rule or part of a rule that has not been adopted, readopted, or substantially amended during the preceding six years shall expire one year from …

§ 835. Procedures and guidance documents (a) Procedures and guidance documents shall be maintained by the agency in an official current compilation that includes an index. Each addition, change, or deletion to the official compilation shall also be dated, indexed, and recorded. T…

§ 836. Procedure for adoption of rules (a) Except for emergency rules, rules shall be adopted by taking the following steps: (1) prefiling, when required; (2) filing the proposed rule; (3) publishing the proposed rule; (4) holding a public hearing and receiving comments; (5) fili…

§ 837. Prefiling Except for emergency rules, a rule shall be prefiled with the Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules 15 days before filing under section 838 of this title. (Added 1981, No. 82, § 6; amended 2001, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 49, eff. June 27, 2002.)

§ 838. Filing of proposed rules (a) Filing; information. Proposed rules shall be filed with the Secretary of State in a format determined by the Secretary that includes the following information: (1) The name of the agency and the subject or title of the rule. (2) An analysis of …

§ 839. Publication of proposed rules (a) Online. The Secretary of State shall publish online notice of a proposed rule within two weeks after receipt of the proposed rule. Notice shall include the following information: (1) the name of the agency; (2) the title or subject of the …

§ 840. Public hearing and comment (a) The agency may hold one or more public hearings for each proposed rule. A public hearing shall be scheduled if so requested by 25 persons, by a governmental subdivision or agency, by the Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules, or by an…

§ 841. Final proposal (a) After considering public comment as required in section 840 of this title, an agency shall file a final proposal with the Secretary of State and with the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules. The Committee may require that the agency include an …

§ 842. Review by Legislative Committee (a) Objection; time frame; process. (1) Within 45 days after the filing of a final proposal unless the agency consents to an extension of this review period, the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, by majority vote of the entire C…

§ 843. Filing of adopted rules (a) An adopting authority may adopt a properly filed final proposed rule after: (1) The passage of 45 days after filing of a final proposal under section 841 of this title, provided the agency has not received notice of objection from the Legislativ…

§ 844. Emergency rules (a) Where an agency believes that there exists an imminent peril to public health, safety, or welfare, it may adopt an emergency rule. The rule may be adopted without having been prefiled or filed in proposed or final proposed form, and may be adopted after…

§ 845. Effect of rules (a) Rules shall be valid and binding on persons they affect and shall have the force of law unless amended or revised or unless a court of competent jurisdiction determines otherwise. Except as provided by subsections 842(c) and 844(e) of this title, rules …

§ 846. Remedies for procedural failures (a) The following shall prevent a rule from taking effect: (1) failure to file with the Secretary of State; (2) failure to file with the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules; (3) failure to file with the Interagency Committee on Ad…

§ 847. Availability of adopted rules; rules by Secretary of State (a) Availability from agency. An agency shall make each rule it has finally adopted available to the public online and for physical inspection and copying. Online, the agency shall post its adopted rules on a separ…

§ 848. Rules repeal; amendment of authority; notice by agency (a) Repeal by operation of law. A rule shall be repealed without formal proceedings under this chapter if: (1) the agency that adopted the rule is abolished and its authority, specifically including its authority to im…