§ 232.04. Appointment of Hearing Officers; Delegation of Appointment Authority to Chief Counsel.

(a) Upon receipt of a Request for Review of a Determination of civil penalty or debarment, the Administrator, acting through the Chief Counsel (seesubpart (d) below), shall appoint an impartial Hearing Officer to conduct the review proceeding.

(b) The appointed Hearing Officer shall be an attorney employed by the Office of the Director - Legal Unit. However, if no attorney employed by the Office of the Director - Legal Unit is available or qualified to serve in a particular matter, the appointed Hearing Officer may be any attorney or administrative law judge employed by the Department, other than an employee of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards ( “DAS”) or a person who has represented or advised the DAS on matters covered by Ch. 1 of Part 7 of Div. 2 of the Labor Code, commencing with Section 1720 within one year of the appointment, or who at any time has represented or advised the Affected Contractor, Subcontractor, or Responsible Officer regarding alleged violations of Ch. 1 of Part 7 of Div. 2 of the Labor Code, commencing with Section 1720.

(c) Any person appointed to serve as a Hearing Officer in any matter shall possess at least the minimum qualifications for service as an administrative law judge pursuant to Government Code section 11502(b) and shall be someone who is not precluded from serving under Government Code section 11425.30.

(d) The Administrator's authority under Labor Code section 1777.7(c) to appoint an impartial Hearing Officer is delegated in all cases to the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Director, or to the Chief Counsel's designated Assistant or Acting Chief Counsel when the Chief Counsel is unavailable or disqualified from participating in a particular matter. This delegation includes all related authority under Rule 40 [Section 232.40] below to appoint a different Hearing Officer to conduct all or any part of a review proceeding as well as the authority to consider and decide or to assign to another Hearing Officer for consideration and decision any motion to disqualify an appointed Hearing Officer.

HISTORY

1. New section filed 7-29-2004; operative 8-28-2004 (Register 2004, No. 31).

Note

Note: Authority cited: Section 1777.7, Labor Code; and Section 11400.20, Government Code. Reference: Section 1777.7, Labor Code; and Sections 11405.80, 11425.30 and 11425.40, Government Code.