▶ Headquarters Office

• Washington DC

▶ ALJ Docketing Center 

• Baltimore, Maryland

 

▶ 6 Field Offices 

• New York, New York

• Baltimore, Maryland

• New Orleans, Louisiana

• Galveston, Texas

• Alameda, California

• Seattle, Washington

▶ Function: 

 The centralized office which accepts the initial filings of cases 

from the agency & assigns cases to the field judges.

 Maintains and archives closed cases files for the Coast Guard. 

 Provides assistance to respondents, respondent 

representatives, and the agency on the proper filing of 

documents and status reports. 

 

▶ Staff: 

 Attorney Adviser

 Hearing Docket Clerk

 2 Court Reporters

 Administrative Specialist
▶ Suspension and Revocation of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Credentials

▶ Non-Coast Guard Cases:

• Transportation Security Administration (TSA):

o Hazardous Material Endorsement (HME)

o Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC)

o Civil Penalties against individuals and airline

o Aviation Worker (AVW)

o Airmen Certificate

• Bureau of Industry Security (BIS)

• Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

• Department of Homeland Security (DHS):

o Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeals

o Debt Collection Cases (Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 

Customs and Boarder Patrol (CBP), and U.S. Custom Immigration Service)
▶ Complaint filed with ALJ Docketing Center by the USCG

 Docketing Center reviews for sufficiency

 Answer filed with ALJ Docketing Center by Mariner

▶ ALJ Docketing Center assigns case to Field ALJ

 Motions Practice

o Proposed Exhibits

o Proposed Witnesses

o Discovery Requests

 Hearing

 Decision

o Findings of Fact specific to the case

o Detailed legal analysis

o Sanctions, if any are imposed

▶ Case returned to ALJ Docketing Center

 Appeal is filed, case file forwarded to Commandant for review

 Historical cases are sent to the National Archives
▶ https://www.uscg.mil/Resources/Administrat

ive-Law-Judges/

▶ Key Features

 Allows keyword search of ALJ Decisions

 List of free legal websites

 FAQs

 Hearing Calendar

 Policy documents

 Links to CDOAs, NTSB, and EAJA

 Contact information for ALJ Program

▶ Very useful, but is not initially visible. You need to first conduct a 

search and then advanced search is permitted. 

Click on Advanced Search after 

you make an initial search These are the Advanced Search functions
▶ Search Current Unit

• Click “search current unit” to search just ALJ website. 

• To search all USCG website (including CDOAs), do not click. 

▶ Advanced Search: This Exact Phrase 

• To find cases involving “refusal to test” 

o Type in: “refusal to test”

o This brings up 28 hits 

• To find cases involving “refusal to test” and Judge Fitzpatrick

o Type in: “refusal to Test” AND Fitzpatrick 

o This brings up 4 hits

• To find cases involving “refusal to test” or “refusal to submit”

o Type in: “refusal to test” OR “refusal to submit

o This bring up 77 hits. 

▶ Advanced Search: None of These Words

• To find cases involving “refusal to test” that don’t involve 

cocaine. 

o Type in: “cocaine” in the None of These Words function 

 “refusal to test” in This Exact Phrase function

o This brings ups 24 hits.