Opinion ID: 1424146
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the board's order lacks requisite findings of fact

Text: The Board and NCCI contend that 36 O.S. 1981 § 337 [14] controls the form of the Board's order, and that no specific findings of fact need be included. We disagree. Another and more specific statute must govern here because the order under review resulted from a hearing. The terms of 36 O.S. 1981 § 346(B) [15] provide in pertinent part:    B. The order shall contain a concise statement of the facts as found by the Board, a concise statement of its conclusions therefrom, and the effective date of the order.    The findings of an agency acting in its adjudicative capacity must [1] recite the underlying facts that support the ultimate facts drawn from the evidence, [2] be free from ambiguity which raises doubt as to whether the Board proceeded on the correct legal theory and [3] be sufficiently specific to enable a reviewing court to ascertain whether the ultimate facts upon which the decision is rested afford a reasonable basis for the order. [16] These requirements constitute a sine qua non of the decision's validity and, where an agency fails to make adequate findings of fact, its determination cannot be affirmed. [17] On review of the Board's findings [18] and conclusions [19] we are constrained to hold that the order is infirm. Several of the findings are but mere assertions that relate to the testimony of various witnesses, while other findings simply give an account of procedural rather than of ultimate facts. Finding No. 10, [20] in which the Board adopts a mass of evidence presented by its expert witness, clearly lacks the specificity that is expected of a Board's order rendered upon a hearing. The remaining paragraphs of the order consist of conclusory statements that are unsupported by actual findings of fact. [21] We therefore hold that because the order lacks findings of fact upon which the Board could have based its conclusions of law, it is fatally deficient and must hence be vacated.