Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3701 - Department of Health - Administration and Director › Chapter 3701-21 - Food Service Operations › Section 3701-21-26 - Appeal procedures

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) This rule prescribes procedures for
			 appealing the proposed denial, suspension or revocation of a food service
			 operation license and appealing the suspension of a license for a violation
			 presenting an immediate danger to the public health. An appeal of a proposed
			 denial, suspension or revocation of an endorsement on a food service operation
			 license and appeal of the suspension of an endorsement on a license for a
			 violation presenting an immediate danger to the public health
			 
								will be
			 conducted in the same manner.
(B)
			 In the case of a proposal to deny, suspend, or revoke a food service operation
			 license, the licensor 
								will provide the license holder with written
			 notice of the proposed action and the cause for the action. The notice
			 
								is to
			 describe the procedure for appealing the proposed denial, suspension, or
			 revocation.
(1) The licensor
			 
									will
			 provide written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by hand
			 delivery. If the notice is returned because of failure of delivery, the
			 licensor 
									is
			 to send the notice by regular mail to the food service operation location
			 listed on the license or conspicuously post the notice at an entrance of the
			 operation, and posting or mailing constitutes notice.
(2) After receiving the notice, to obtain a
			 hearing, the license holder 
									will submit a written request that the licensor
			 receives within fifteen days.
(3)
			 The licensor 
									will schedule a hearing before the licensor or a
			 hearing officer designated by the licensor. If the licensor provides a hearing
			 officer, he or she 
									will be licensed to practice law in Ohio and
			 cannot have participated in any manner in the decision to take the action
			 against the license holder.
(4) The
			 licensor 
									will mail or hand-deliver notice of the date, time,
			 and place of the hearing to the license holder no less than ten days before the
			 scheduled date.
(5) At the hearing,
			 the license holder 
									will
									be provided an opportunity to present
			 its case orally or in writing and to confront and cross-examine witnesses. The
			 license holder may be represented by legal
			 counsel and may review the case record before the hearing. If the licensor is a
			 board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having
			 the duties of the board of health under section 3709.05 of the Revised Code,
			 and a hearing officer has been designated, a member of that board does not have
			 to be present at the hearing.
(6)
			 If the hearing is before a hearing officer, he or she
			 
									will
			 prepare a written recommendation as to the validity of the licensor's action,
			 which 
									will rest solely on the evidence presented at the
			 hearing and the statutory and regulatory provisions governing the licensor's
			 action. The hearing officer 
									will describe the basis for his or her
			 recommendation, but need not prepare a full opinion or formal findings of fact
			 and conclusions of law. The hearing officer 
									will mail by
			 certified mail, return receipt requested, or hand-deliver the recommendation to
			 the licensor and the license holder. Either party may file objections to the
			 recommendation provided that the objections are received by the licensor within
			 five days of receiving a copy of the recommendation from the hearing
			 officer.
(7) After reviewing any
			 timely objections, the licensor may by motion take additional evidence or
			 approve, modify, or disapprove the hearing officer's recommendation and
			 
									will
			 enter an order in the record of its proceedings.
(8) If the licensor does not receive a timely
			 request for a hearing, the licensor may immediately enter an order as proposed
			 in the notice.