Opinion ID: 2632272
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: deficiencies in srs procedures

Text: Winston contends there were statutory and constitutional deficiencies in the procedures used by SRS in substantiating and validating him for emotional and physical abuse of D.W. Winston alleges: (1) SRS failed to follow prescribed procedures; (2) the procedures employed by SRS created an unconstitutional condition upon Winston's due process right to be heard; (3) Winston was deprived of due process because SRS failed to follow its internal procedures and because SRS made its initial findings of abuse against D.W. before Winston was given notice that civil proceedings had been instituted against him or given an opportunity to be heard; (4) the doctrine of res judicata bars the subsequent proceedings against D.W.; and (5) the testimony of unsubstantiated allegations was improperly admitted into evidence. This appeal is pursuant to the Kansas Act for Judicial Review and Civil Enforcement of Agency Actions (KJRA), K.S.A. 77-601 et seq., which allows the district court to grant relief only if it determines any one or more of the following: (1) The agency action, or the statute or rule and regulation on which the agency action is based, is unconstitutional on its face or as applied; (2) the agency has acted beyond the jurisdiction conferred by any provision of law; (3) the agency has not decided an issue requiring resolution; (4) the agency has erroneously interpreted or applied the law; (5) the agency has engaged in an unlawful procedure or has failed to follow prescribed procedure; (6) the persons taking the agency action were improperly constituted as a decision-making body or subject to disqualification; (7) the agency action is based on a determination of fact, made or implied by the agency, that is not supported by evidence that is substantial when viewed in light of the record as a whole, which includes the agency record for judicial review, supplemented by any additional evidence received by the court under this act; or (8) the agency action is otherwise unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. K.S.A. 77-621(c). The party asserting the agency's action is invalid bears the burden of proving the invalidity. K.S.A. 77-621(a)(1). An appellate court, in reviewing an agency action, is limited to ascertaining from the record whether there is substantial competent evidence to support the agency findings. Sokol v. Kansas Dept. of SRS, 267 Kan. 740, Syl. ¶ 3, 981 P.2d 1172 (1999). Substantial evidence is evidence which possesses both relevance and substance and which furnishes a substantial basis of fact from which the issue can reasonably be resolved. Kansas Dept. of SRS v. Paillet, 270 Kan. 646, Syl. ¶ 2, 16 P.3d 962 (2001). This court reviews an appeal from an agency's action under the KJRA as though the appeal had been made directly to this court and is subject to the same limitations of review as the district court. Sokol, 267 Kan. at 746; U.S.D. No. 443 v. Kansas State Board of Education, 266 Kan. 75, 81, 966 P.2d 68 (1998). If the issue is a question of law, this court has unlimited review. Murphy v. Nelson, 260 Kan. 589, 594, 921 P.2d 1225 (1996).