Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 55 - PUBLIC SAFETY › Part VI - Uniform Construction Code Enforcement › Chapter 11 - Disciplinary Proceedings › Section VI-1111 - Judicial Review of Adjudication

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. A registrant who is aggrieved by a final
				decision or order in an adjudication proceeding is entitled to judicial review
				whether or not he has applied to the agency for rehearing, without limiting,
				however, utilization of or the scope of judicial review available under other
				means of review, redress, relief, or trial de novo provided by law. A
				preliminary, procedural, or intermediate action or ruling is immediately
				reviewable if review of the final council decision would not provide an
				adequate remedy and would inflict irreparable injury.
B. Proceedings for review may be instituted
				by filing a petition in the District Court of East Baton Rouge Parish within 30
				days after mailing of notice of the final decision or, if a rehearing is
				requested, within 30 days after the decision thereon. Copies of the petition
				shall be served upon the council and all parties of record.
C. The filing of the petition does not itself
				stay enforcement of the council decision. The council may grant, or the
				reviewing court may order, a stay ex parte upon appropriate terms, relative to
				professions and occupations. The court may require that the stay be granted in
				accordance with the local rules of the reviewing court pertaining to injunctive
				relief and the issuance of temporary restraining orders.
D. Within 30 days after the service of the
				petition, or within further time allowed by the court, the council shall
				transmit to the reviewing court the original or a certified copy of the entire
				record of the proceeding under review. By stipulation of all parties to the
				review proceedings, the record may be shortened. A party unreasonably refusing
				to stipulate to limit the record may be taxed by the court for the additional
				costs. The court may require or permit subsequent corrections or additions to
				the record.
E. If, before the date
				set for hearing, application is made to the court for leave to present
				additional evidence, and it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that the
				additional evidence is material and that there were good reasons for failure to
				present it in the proceeding before the council, the court may order that the
				additional evidence be taken before the council upon conditions determined by
				the court. The council may modify its findings and decision by reason of the
				additional evidence and shall file that evidence and any modifications, new
				findings, or decisions with the reviewing court.
F. The review shall be conducted by the court
				without a jury and shall be confined to the record. In cases of alleged
				irregularities in procedure before the council, not shown in the record, proof
				thereon may be taken in the court. The court, upon request, shall hear oral
				argument and receive written briefs.
G. The court may affirm the decision of the
				council or remand the case for further proceedings. The court may reverse or
				modify the decision if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced
				because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions are:
1. in violation of constitutional or
				statutory provisions;
2. in excess
				of the statutory authority of the agency;
3. made upon unlawful procedure;
4. affected by other error of law;
5. arbitrary or capricious or characterized
				by abuse of discretion or clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion;
				or
6. not supported and sustainable
				by a preponderance of evidence as determined by the reviewing court. In the
				application of this rule, the court shall make its own determination and
				conclusions of fact by a preponderance of evidence based upon its own
				evaluation of the record reviewed in its entirety upon judicial review. In the
				application of the rule, where the council has the opportunity to judge the
				credibility of witnesses by first-hand observation of demeanor on the witness
				stand and the reviewing court does not, due regard shall be given to the
				agency's determination of credibility issues.