Opinion ID: 865553
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standard of review

Text: ¶14. We will reverse the decision of an administrative agency only if the decision (1) was unsupported by substantial evidence; (2) was arbitrary and capricious; (3) was beyond the power of the administrative agency to make; or (4) violated the complaining party’s statutory or constitutional right. Hinds County Sch. Dist. Bd. of Trs. v. R.B. ex rel. D.L.B., 10 So. 3d 387, 394-95 (Miss. 2008). An agency may not adopt rules and regulations which are contrary to statutory provisions or which exceed or conflict with the authority granted by statute. Miss. Pub. Serv. Comm’n v. Miss. Power & Light Co., 593 So. 2d 997, 1000, 1004 (Miss. 1991). “[A]n agency's rule-making power does not extend to the adoption of regulations which are inconsistent with actual statutes.” Tillmon v. Miss. State Dep’t of Health, 749 So. 2d 1017, 1023 (Miss. 1999) (citing State ex rel. Pittman v. Miss. Public Serv. Comm'n, 538 So. 2d 367, 373 (Miss. 1989)). ¶15. An agency’s interpretation of a rule or statute governing the agency’s operation is a matter of law that is reviewed de novo, but with great deference to the agency’s interpretation. Sierra Club v. Miss. Envtl. Quality Permit Bd., 943 So. 2d 673, 678 (Miss. 2006) (quoting McDerment v. Miss. Real Estate Comm’n, 748 So. 2d 114, 118 (Miss. 1999)). This “duty of deference derives from our realization that the everyday experience of the administrative agency gives it familiarity with the particularities and nuances of the problems committed to its care which no court can hope to replicate.” Gill v. Miss. Dep’t of Wildlife Conservation, 574 So. 2d 586, 593 (Miss. 1990). However, if an agency’s interpretation is contrary to the unambiguous terms or best reading of a statute, no deference is due. Sierra Club, 943 So. 2d at 679. An agency’s interpretation will not be upheld if “it is so plainly erroneous or so 9 inconsistent with either the underlying regulation or statute as to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law.” Buelow v. Glidewell, 757 So. 2d 216, 219 (Miss. 1995).