Opinion ID: 1057714
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies Doctrine

Text: The exhaustion doctrine has been recognized at common law as an exercise of judicial prudence. Justice Brandeis referred to it as the long settled rule of judicial administration that no one is entitled to judicial relief for a supposed or threatened injury until the prescribed administrative remedy has been exhausted. Myers v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., 303 U.S. 41, 50-51, 58 S.Ct. 459, 82 L.Ed. 638 (1938). When a claim is first cognizable by an administrative agency, therefore, the courts will not interfere until the administrative process has run its course. United States v. W. Pac. R.R. Co., 352 U.S. 59, 63, 77 S.Ct. 161, 1 L.Ed.2d 126 (1956). Both courts and legislatures have recognized that the exhaustion doctrine promotes judicial efficiency and protects administrative authority in at least three ways. First, sometimes [j]udicial intervention may not be necessary because the agency can correct any initial errors at subsequent stages of the process[, and] the agency's position on important issues of fact and law may not be fully crystallized or adopted in final form. Ticor Title, 814 F.2d at 735 (quoting Gellhorn & Boyer). Secondly, exhaustion allows the agency to develop a more complete administrative record upon which the court can make its review. Efco Tool Co. v. Comm'r, 81 T.C. 976, 981, 1983 WL 14906 (1983). Finally, cases that concern subject matter within the purview of administrative agencies often involve specialized fact-finding, interpretation of disputed technical subject matter, and resolving disputes concerning the meaning of the agency's regulations. West v. Bergland, 611 F.2d 710, 715 (8th Cir.1979) (citations omitted). Requiring that administrative remedies be exhausted often leaves courts better equipped to resolve difficult legal issues by allowing an agency to `perform functions within its special competence.' Id. (quoting Parisi v. Davidson, 405 U.S. 34, 37, 92 S.Ct. 815, 31 L.Ed.2d 17 (1972)). While the doctrine arose as a discretionary rule in courts of equity, today many exhaustion requirements are mandated by legislation. See Smith v. United States, 199 F.2d 377, 381 (1st Cir. 1952). When a statute provides specific administrative procedures, one claiming to have been injured must first comply with the provisions of the administrative statute. State v. Yoakum, 201 Tenn. 180, 297 S.W.2d 635, 641 (1956) (citing State ex rel. Jones v. City of Nashville, 198 Tenn. 280, 279 S.W.2d 267 (1955)). The mere fact that an agency probably will deny relief is not a sufficient excuse for failure to exhaust available remedies. Id. Exhaustion of administrative remedies is not an absolute prerequisite for relief, however, unless a statute `by its plain words' requires exhaustion. Thomas v. State Bd. of Equalization, 940 S.W.2d 563, 566 (Tenn.1997) (quoting Reeves v. Olsen, 691 S.W.2d 527, 530 (Tenn.1985)). Thus, a statute does not require exhaustion when the language providing for an appeal to an administrative agency is worded permissively. Id. Absent any statutory mandate, whether to dismiss a case for failure to exhaust administrative remedies would be a matter of `sound judicial discretion.' Reeves, 691 S.W.2d at 530 (quoting Cerro Metal Prod. v. Marshall, 620 F.2d 964, 970 (3d Cir.1980)).