Court Opinion

ID: 9544205
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:53:10.782399+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:12:22.734456
License: Public Domain

M. J. Kelly, J.
(concurring). I concur in the *541majority opinion, but write separately to address the problem of parallel circuit court jurisdiction under both the Administrative Procedures Act and MCL 600.631; MSA 27A.631. This statute in its amended form, effective in 1975, provides:
"An appeal shall lie from any order, decision, or opinion of any state board, commission, or agency, authorized under the laws of this state to promulgate rules from which an appeal or other judicial review has not otherwise been provided for by law, to the circuit court of the county of which the appellant is a resident or to the circuit court of Ingham County, which court shall have and exercise jurisdiction with respect thereto as in nonjury cases. Such appeals shall be made in accordance with the rules of the supreme court.”
This provision, by its own terms, specifically exempts from circuit court review decisions of those agencies from which an appeal or other judicial review has otherwise been provided for by law. Since the enactment of the Administrative Procedures Act, however, its judicial review procedures have applied to decisions of the Department of Corrections. Lawrence v Dep’t of Corrections, 88 Mich App 167; 276 NW2d 554 (1979), lv den 407 Mich 909 (1979), Human Rights Party v Michigan Corrections Comm, 76 Mich App 204; 256 NW2d 439 (1977). See also MCL 24.313; MSA 3.560(213), making the Administrative Procedures Act applicable to "all agencies and agency proceedings not expressly exempted”.
I would not unqualifiedly dismiss without consideration the exemption embodied in MCL 600.631; MSA 27A.631. To do so may lead to further improper assertions of circuit court jurisdiction under this statute in cases arising prior to the enactment of MCL 791.255; MSA 28.2320(55), which provides:
*542"A prisoner aggrieved by a final decision or order of a hearings officer or of the department may file a petition for judicial review of the decision or order pursuant to chapter 6 of Act No. 306 of the Public Acts of 1969, as amended, being sections 24.301 to 24.306 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.”
As noted above, decisions of this Court have found the Administrative Procedures Act applicable to Department of Corrections decisions even prior to the inclusion of specific Administrative Procedures Act review procedures. Due to this application of procedures, MCL 600.631; MSA 27A.631 is not available to provide circuit court jurisdiction for any case decided after enactment of the Administrative Procedures Act.