Court Opinion

ID: 9850619
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:00:10.88269+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:40.494773
License: Public Domain

GREENE, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with the majority that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-270.15(a)(10) does not constitute an improper delegation of legislative authority. I further agree that “there is no per se violation of due process when an administrative tribunal acts as both investigator and adjudicator on the same matter.” Hope v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 110 N.C. App. 599, 603-04, 430 S.E.2d 472, 474-75 (1993). The actions of the Board in this case, however, constituted a violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-40(d) and section 54.2308(e)(3) of the North Carolina Administrative Code. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent in part.
I

Overlap of Investigative and Adjudicative Roles

Pursuant to the Psychology Practice Act, the procedures for suspension of a psychologist’s license or other disciplinary actions must be “in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 150B,” the Administrative Procedure Act. N.C.G.S. § 90-270.15(e) (2001). The *22procedures established by Chapter 150B “ensure that the functions of rule making, investigation, advocacy, and adjudication are not all performed by the same person in the administrative process.” N.C.G.S. § 150B-1(a) (2001). One provision that serves to facilitate the requisite division of power within an administrative agency is N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-40(d). It states:
Unless required for disposition of an ex parte matter authorized by law, a member of an agency assigned to make a decision or to make findings of fact and conclusions of law in a contested case under this Article shall not communicate, directly or indirectly, in connection with any issue of fact or question of law, with any person or party or his representative, except on notice and opportunity for all parties to participate. This prohibition begins at the time of the notice of hearing. An agency member may communicate with other members of the agency and may have the aid and advice of the agency staff other than the staff which has been or is engaged in investigating or prosecuting functions in connection with the case under consideration or a factually-related case.
N.C.G.S. § 150B-40(d) (2001) (emphasis added). This section breaks down into two parts: (1) An agency member involved in the decision-making process may only communicate with another “person or party or his representative” after the notice of hearing has been issued if that member provides all parties with notice and an opportunity to participate in the communication; and (2) regardless of whether a notice of hearing has been issued or the parties have received notice of the intended communication, a decision-making member may communicate with other members of the agency at any time unless those other members are or were engaged in the investigation or prosecution of the case or a factually-related case. In other words, the decision-making member is prohibited from having any communications with the investigating or prosecuting members of the agency before and after the notice of hearing.1
In this case, the Board met with the investigator prior to the issuance of the notice of hearing to discuss his findings and conclusions in respect to this case. This communication was in direct viola*23tion of section 150B-40(d) and thus requires the Board’s decision to be reversed.2
II

Disqualification Procedure

In any event, the Board’s failure to comply -with the proper disqualification procedure mandates reversal of its decision. Petitioner filed a verified petition for disqualification of the Board members. In his petition, petitioner alleged the Board had met with the investigator in October 1998 to discuss the investigator’s report. While a copy of the minutes of this meeting reflected the Board’s decision to proceed with the charges against petitioner, it revealed nothing about the content of the Board’s communication with the investigator. Petitioner further alleged “[t]here [were] specific and unique events related to this case and discussed with the Board which the Board members [would] remember when this case [was] heard.” Moreover, “the Board members . . . [were] likely to have already drawn conclusions and opinions as to what [were] and [were] not the facts and circumstances surrounding . . . the alleged conduct in this matter and [were] irrevocably biased such that they [could not] provide a fair and impartial hearing.” In order to explore the alleged bias of the Board, petitioner requested an opportunity to voir dire the Board. The Board considered the petition and, after having been polled for bias by an appointed investigator, denied the petition without affording petitioner an opportunity to voir dire the individual members of the Board.
Pursuant to section 54.2308 of the North Carolina Administrative Code, a party may petition for the disqualification of a Board member upon belief that the Board member “is personally biased or otherwise unable to conduct or participate in the hearing and perform all duties in an impartial manner.” 21 N.C.A.C. 54.2308(b) (2002); N.C.G.S. § 150B-40(b) (2001) (a party must “file[] in good faith a timely and sufficient affidavit of the personal bias or other reason for disqualification of any member of the agency”). The party alleging bias “must state all facts [he] deems relevant to the disqualification of a Board member.” 21 N.C.A.C. 54.2308(c) (2002). The Board then “shall decide whether to disqualify the challenged individual”; however, “[t]he person whose disqualification is to be determined will not *24participate in the decision.” 21 N.C.A.C. 54.2308(e)(2)-(3) (2002). Accordingly, the procedure set forth in section 54.2308 is inoperable if bias of every member of the Board is alleged. When the Board is presented with such a scenario, the matter must be referred to an administrative law judge. See N.C.G.S. § 150B-40(e) (2001) (“[w]hen a majority of an agency is unable ... to hear a contested case, the agency shall apply to the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings for the designation of an administrative law judge to preside at the hearing”). Thus, the Board erred in failing to refer the determination of bias of the whole Board to an administrative law judge.
I would further note that upon review by an administrative law judge, petitioner, having in good faith alleged the facts leading to the potential bias of the Board, has the right to voir dire the individual Board members. See N.C.G.S. § 150B-40(a) (2001) (“[h]earings shall be conducted in a fair and impartial manner”); Crump v. Bd. of Educ., 326 N.C. 603, 624, 392 S.E.2d 579, 590 (1990) (it is a fundamental aspect of due process that “ ‘both unfairness and the appearance of unfairness should be avoided’ ”). While it has been held that an administrative agency’s involvement in both the investigation and the adjudication of a case does not per se violate due process, see Hope, 110 N.C. App. at 603-04, 430 S.E.2d at 474-75, a petitioner, if his factual allegations are made in good faith, must be allowed to explore the potential for bias that is inherent in the conflicting roles often assumed by administrative agencies, see Withrow v. Larkin, 421 U.S. 35, 58, 43 L. Ed. 2d 712, 730 (1975) (substantial due process question raised if a “fair and effective consideration at a subsequent adversary hearing leading to [the agency’s] ultimate decision” is “as a practical or legal matter foreclosed”); N.C.G.S. § 150B-40(b). The subsequent determination of actual bias must necessarily involve an opportunity to voir dire the individual Board members, as the party alleging bias will be essentially barred from meeting his burden of proof if he is prevented from engaging in such an examination.3 See Crump, 326 N.C. at 617, 392 S.E.2d at 586 (holding that “because of their multi-faceted roles as administrators, investigators and adjudicators, school boards are vested with a presumption that their actions are correct, and the burden is on a contestant to *25prove otherwise”). This is especially true if, as in this case, no transcript or record exists of the communication that allegedly led to the Board members’ bias.

Conclusion

As the Board’s communication with the investigator in October 1998 was in violation of section 150B-40(d), I would affirm the trial court’s order reversing the Board’s decision. Even if section 150B-40(d) did not mandate reversal of the Board’s decision, the Board’s failure to refer petitioner’s allegations of the bias of the whole Board to an administrative law judge constitutes an alternative error warranting reversal of its decision.

. Any interpretation of section 150B-40(d) prohibiting communications with an investigating or prosecuting member of the agency only after issuance of the notice of hearing would be nonsensical as there is no justification for allowing communications with those agency members before a notice of hearing has been issued but not thereafter.

. This opinion does not prohibit administrative agencies from appointing a Board member to engage in the investigation or prosecution of a case so long as that member recuses himself from any participation in the adjudicative process.

. The majority finds significance in the fact that the Board, when polled by the appointed investigator, denied having any memory of the original review of the facts that would prevent a fair and impartial decision. Petitioner, however, alleged “the Board members ... [were] likely to have already drawn conclusions and opinions as to what [were] and [were] not the facts and circumstances surrounding . . . the alleged conduct in this matter.” This issue was not addressed by the polling of the Board and petitioner should have been given an opportunity to explore it.