Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 016 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Division 14 - Department of Finance (Administrative Services) › Rule 016.14.08-009 - Policy 1098: Appeals and Hearings Procedures

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
1098.0 APPEALS AND HEARINGS
			 PROCEDURES
1098.1
Policy
Department of Human Services (DHS) administrative adjudications
				are to be conducted impartially, timely, fairly, professionally, and
				objectively, and are to lead to decisions that are consistent with applicable
				state and federal laws.
1098.2
Definitions
1098.2.1
Administrative
			 Adjudication
: the process for the formulation of an
			 order.
1098.2.2
APA
: The Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act,
			 beginning at Ark. Code Ann. §
									25-15-201.
1098.2.3
Appellant
:
			 the party applying for DHS services or appealing DHS adverse action.
1098.2.4
Burden of
			 Proof
: The responsibility to establish a proposition by sufficient
			 evidence. An appellant seeking to establish eligibility for DHS benefits or
			 services has the burden of proving his or her eligibility. If the appeal
			 challenges DHS adverse action, DHS has the burden of proving the facts
			 necessary to support the adverse action.
1098.2.5
Conflict of
			 Interest
: a situation where, with respect to the claim or
			 controversy before the hearing official, the official:
A. has been a party or acted as an advocate
			 for a party; or
B. has a direct or
			 indirect financial interest. A financial interest is indirect if it exists
			 though the hearing official's spouse, child, parent, sibling, or grandparent,
			 or through the hearing official's ownership or management interest in any
			 entity having a financial interest.
1098.2.6
DHS
: the
			 Department of Human Services.
1098.2.7
Process
			 Procedures
: procedures assuring that appellants have notice of the
			 denial or other action, notice of the administrative adjudication proceedings,
			 and an opportunity during those proceedings to appear, be represented, be
			 heard, offer evidence and arguments, and call and cross examine
			 witnesses.
1098.2.8
Financial Interest
: more than a remote possibility of
			 a gain or loss resulting from the outcome of the claim or
			 controversy.
1098.2.9
Good Cause
: Substantial reason, that which a
			 reasonably prudent and intelligent person would find justifiable.
1098.2.10
Hearing
			 Official
: an administrative law judge or hearing officer employed
			 by the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).
1098.2.11
Impartiality
: the absence of bias or prejudice or the
			 appearance of bias or prejudice, in the hearing official's application of the
			 agency's special knowledge and expertise to the issues under consideration. An
			 appearance of bias or prejudice exists if any party has reasonable cause to
			 question the hearing official's impartiality.
1098.2.12
OAH
: the
			 Office of Appeals and Hearings of the Department of Human Services.
1098.2.13
Order
: a
			 final agency determination that may be appealed to a circuit court under the
			 APA.
1098.2.14
Party
: the person asking for the administrative
			 adjudication, and the DHS division or office, acting through its employees,
			 which made the decision or took the action being appealed.
1098.2.15
Reasonable
			 Cause
: circumstances sufficiently strong to warrant a cautious
			 person's belief that an allegation is true.
1098.2.16
Recusal
:
			 an order disqualifying the hearing official from hearing the appeal.
1098.2.17
Relevant
			 Evidence
: evidence tending to make the existence of any fact that
			 is of consequence to the administrative adjudication more probable or less
			 probable than it would be without the evidence.
1098.2.18
Representative
: a person selected by a party to
			 present that party's statements, arguments, and evidence during the
			 administrative adjudication process. A corporation or association cannot be a
			 representative.