Opinion ID: 852254
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Adequacy of the Submitted Record

Text: FSSA contends that its motion to dismiss should be granted because the Trust did not timely file the entire agency record. The Trust responds that filing the entire agency record was unnecessary because the documents filed with the petition for review were sufficient for the trial court to adjudicate the claims raised in the petition. We believe that the documents attached to the Trust's timely petition for judicial review, taken together with FSSA's answer, were sufficient to decide the principal issue presented for judicial review. Generally, submitting only selected documents from the agency record does not comply with the requirement of Indiana Code § 4-21.5-5-13(a) that the agency record be filed. See Reedus v. Indiana Dep't of Workforce Dev., 900 N.E.2d 481, 486 (Ind.Ct.App.2009); MicroVote General Corp. v. Office of the Secretary of State, 890 N.E.2d 21, 26-27 (Ind. Ct.App.2008), trans. denied; Wrogeman v. Roob, 877 N.E.2d 219, 222-223 (Ind.Ct. App.2008), trans. denied; Indiana State Bd. of Educ. v. Brownsburg Cmty. School Corp., 813 N.E.2d 330, 334-35 (Ind.Ct.App. 2004). But imperfect compliance with the filing requirement is not always fatal. A petition for review may be accepted if the materials submitted provide the trial court with all that is necessary ... to accurately assess the challenged agency action. Izaak Walton League of America, Inc. v. DeKalb County Surveyor's Office, 850 N.E.2d 957, 965 (Ind.Ct.App.2006), trans. denied; see also Reedus, 900 N.E.2d at 487 ([T]he phrase `the agency record for the type of agency action at issue ' reveals the General Assembly's practical recognition that not everything listed in AOPA 3-33(b) would necessarily exist or be relevant to the disputed action.) (emphasis in original); MicroVote General Corp., 890 N.E.2d at 26-27 (acknowledging that the analysis turns on what was submitted and the scope of review sought). Alice Meyer died while FSSA was addressing her challenge to its county office's rejection of her Medicaid application. The Trust petitioned for review, challenging only the ALJ's determination of the period of time Meyer was ineligible for Medicaid because she disposed of some assets and did not spend down all her available resources. The only issue the Trust raised requiring any information from the record was a challenge to the ALJ's valuation of a remainder interest in Meyer's family farm at the full value of the farm. Specifically, the Trust contended the ALJ erred in determining the period of Meyer's ineligibility by valuing the transferred interest at the $210,000 value of the farm, not the $104,073.90 value of the remainder. FSSA admitted this error in its answer to the petition for judicial review but later moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the full record of the administrative proceeding was not timely filed. In view of FSSA's admission at the time the motion to dismiss was filed, there was nothing needed to resolve the valuation of the remainder interest beyond facts established by the petition and answer, and the applicable law as set forth in the regulations. The record as it stood at the time of FSSA's motion to dismiss was therefore sufficient to resolve this issue in favor of the Trust. Accordingly, the trial court was correct to deny FSSA's motion to dismiss the Trust's petition for judicial review. The Trust also sought to raise a second issue, contending that the ALJ used the incorrect private pay rate. The record was incomplete, however, as to whether the ALJ used the correct private pay rate, which turns on the date the Medicaid application was filed. ICES Program Policy Manual § 3006.00.00. Because the record does not establish when Meyer's application was filed, this second issue could not be resolved by the trial court. Accordingly, this second issue is not presented for review.