THE PUBLIC IN OUR PROCESS

Written By YN3 Victor A. Anderson and YN3 Christopher J. Brown

Every violation case adjudicated by the Coast Guard Hearing Office 

Detachment has a “party.” This “party” is a member of the public. It 

is either a recreational boater, commercial mariner, commercial 

entity or governmental entity. Regardless, there is always a “party” 

who receives our preliminary assessment letter. What can that 

“party” do when it receives our letter? What are the options afforded 

to this party?

If you are the party receiving a preliminary assessment letter from 

the Coast Guard Hearing Office Detachment, don’t panic! There are 

options available to you and you are encouraged to exercise those 

options.

Included with the preliminary assessment letter is a copy of the 

violation case file that the Coast Guard Hearing Office Detachment 

received from the Coast Guard processing official responsible for a 

particular unit’s violation cases. This case file contains the evidence 

that the unit personnel gathered to support that a violation occurred 

and that the party charged is responsible. 

The first thing that a party should do after reading over the letter 

and case file is to READ “Your Alternatives in the Coast Guard Civil 

Penalty Process” pamphlet, which is included with the preliminary 

assessment letter. This pamphlet guides the party in the options 

that are available. One of the options is to pay the preliminary civil 

penalty amount. Upon the Coast Guard receiving payment, the case 

is closed and the party doesn’t hear from the Hearing Officer again 

regarding the violations identified in that particular case. The 

second option is to set up a payment plan to pay the preliminary civil 

penalty amount by contacting the Coast Guard’s collection office. 
However, the party may have corrected the violation before or after 

receiving the preliminary assessment letter. In such cases, the Coast 

Guard Hearing Office Detachment gives the party an opportunity to 

submit evidence of compliance. By doing this, the party can show 

that one or more violations in the case file have been corrected. 

The party may write the Hearing Officer and submit photographs, 

copies of receipts, diagrams or any other evidence relating to 

compliance efforts. This evidence would be considered during the 

Hearing Officer’s final determination in the case. 

The party may dispute the violations or the preliminary assessed 

amount. Here again, the party may write to the Hearing Officer and 

submit evidence to show that the violation did not occur, explain 

why the violation occurred and / or why the penalty amount should 

be less than the amount preliminarily assessed. 

In other words, a party may submit its “case” in writing to the 

Hearing Officer in lieu of requesting a hearing. However, a party 

may request a hearing to present its “case.” Any request for a 

hearing must be done in writing. The request must detail the issues 

that the party wishes to dispute at the hearing. 

Whether the party desires to submit evidence in writing in lieu of a 

hearing or request a hearing, the party may request an extension for 

more time to gather evidence or witnesses. 

Responses to the preliminary assessment letter must be made within 

30 days of receiving the preliminary assessment letter. Parties are 

reminded to make sure the case file’s “Activity Number” is on any 

letter sent to the Hearing Officer and to not forget to sign the letter.

If the party receives a “Warning” as a preliminary assessment for 

any particular violation, the party may do nothing. A “Warning” may 

be simply accepted by the party or it may be disputed by the party. 

In such a case, a monetary assessment is not assessed. 

In any case in which a preliminary monetary civil penalty was 

assessed, if the party chooses to do nothing, the preliminary civil 

penalty amount assessed becomes the final penalty assessed after 30 
days and the case is forwarded to the collections office for further 

action. 

Parties in the civil penalty process are ENCOURAGED always to 

read the “Your Alternatives in the Coast Guard Civil Penalty 

Process” pamphlet sent with every preliminary assessment letter. It 

is in the best interests of every charged party to know and exercise 

the options afforded to them in this process.

See our website shown on page one under Greetings to view the 

pamphlet online.