Opinion ID: 2099866
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bayview-Sutton's Administrative Appeal

Text: Section 42-35-15 permits judicial review of any final order entered by a state governmental board, commission, department, or officer, after hearing, in a contested case. Any party aggrieved by such order may file his or her complaint, seeking review of the administrative decision within thirty days after receiving notice of the final decision of the agency or, if a rehearing before the agency is requested, within thirty days after the decision thereon. § 42-35-15(b); Considine v. Rhode Island Department of Transportation, 564 A.2d 1343, 1344 (R.I. 1989); Great American Nursing Centers, Inc. v. Norberg, 439 A.2d 249, 253 (R.I.1981). The final orders from which an appeal may be taken are defined in § 42-35-12. In this case, there is no question that Bayview and Sutton's complaint was filed in the Superior Court within thirty days of the hearing officer's intended final decision and order. The real problem is that it was filed before any final decision or order was entered and, as the Superior Court file record discloses, has never to this day been entered. The Superior Court accordingly lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review a final agency decision that never existed.