Opinion ID: 1284866
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Claimed Inadequacies of the Record

Text: The Minnesota statutes that govern both agency decision making and judicial review thereof require that a complete record of all hearings be maintained and utilized at both levels. Thus, Minn.St. 116C.06, subd. 2 states that [t]he transcript of testimony and exhibits shall constitute the exclusive record upon which [the hearing officer's] findings of fact are made, and § 116C.60 requires a complete record of public hearings to be kept. Similarly, Minnesota's Administrative Procedures Act requires an official record to be maintained, § 15.0418, which the agency transmits to the reviewing court, § 15.0424, subd. 4, whose review is confined to the record, § 15.0424, subd. 6. Appellants contend that the failure of MEQC to certify a complete record of two of the local hearings make judicial review of the MEQC decision impossible. Respondents assert that the record was corrected by the addition to the official record [36] of the tape recordings of one of the appellants. The three-judge district court panel held that [t]here is now before the court    what is, in substance, `a complete record,' that appellants had not sought to bring additional evidence forward, and that [a]ppellants have not shown any prejudice by the condition of the record as finally returned for review. In our judgment, the decision of the three-judge panel with respect to the incomplete transcript issue is clearly correct.