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 shall 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 shall provide
			 the license holder with written notice of the proposed action and the cause for
			 the action. The notice shall describe the procedure for appealing the proposed
			 denial, suspension, or revocation.
(1) The
			 licensor shall 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 shall 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
			 must submit a written request that the licensor receives within fifteen days.
(3) The licensor shall schedule a
			 hearing before the licensor or a hearing officer designated by the licensor. If
			 the licensor provides a hearing officer, he or she shall be licensed to
			 practice law in Ohio and shall not have participated in any manner in the
			 decision to take the action against the license
			 holder.
(4) The licensor
			 shall 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 shall have the opportunity to present its case orally or in writing and
			 to confront and cross-examine witnesses. The license holder may be represented
			 by 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 shall prepare a written
			 recommendation as to the validity of the licensor's action, which shall rest
			 solely on the evidence presented at the hearing and the statutory and
			 regulatory provisions governing the licensor's action. The hearing officer
			 shall 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 shall 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 shall 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.