What to Expect at a Hearing Examiner Hearing

What Is the Office of the Hearing Examiner?

The Office of the Hearing Examiner is an independent office that handles certain disputes, appeals, and applications involving government decisions.

The Hearing Examiner acts like an administrative law judge. The Hearing Examiner listens to the parties involved, reviews the evidence and applicable laws, and makes a written decision.

The Hearing Examiner may hear appeals of decisions made by government staff and may also make final decisions on certain land use applications.

What You Should Know Before the Hearing

Once an appeal or application is received, and any required fees have been paid, the case will be scheduled and placed on the Hearing Examiner's calendar.

These are formal legal proceedings. All parties must follow the Hearing Examiner's Rules of Procedure. A copy of the rules is available on the Hearing Examiner's website.

All parties, or their attorney or representative, must attend scheduled hearings. If a party does not attend, the Hearing Examiner may dismiss the case or make a decision against that party.

Before the hearing, the Hearing Examiner may require the parties to:

• Provide documents or other information;
• Exchange information with the other parties; or
• Attend a pre-hearing conference to discuss and resolve procedural, legal, or factual issues.

What Happens at the Hearing?

Most cases require a public hearing.

At the hearing, the Hearing Examiner will:

• Review evidence;
• Hear testimony from witnesses;
• Consider legal arguments; and
• Create the official record for the case.

Parties may present their case and provide evidence supporting their position.

Public Comment

Members of the public may have an opportunity to provide sworn testimony or comments at the hearing after the parties have made their initial presentations.

Written comments submitted before the hearing are often the most effective way to explain concerns because they may become part of the official record and can be reviewed by the Hearing Examiner after the hearing.

Oral comments may be limited to a short amount of time, sometimes as little as three minutes.

Many people submitting multiple copies of the same comment does not give the comment additional weight.

The Hearing Examiner makes decisions based on the evidence, the facts, and whether the applicable laws and requirements have been met. Decisions are not based on emotion or the number of people who support or oppose an issue.

Public comments can be helpful when they identify important facts or legal concerns that may not otherwise be raised during the hearing.

Important: Do Not Contact the Hearing Examiner Directly

Parties must follow the Rules of Procedure when communicating about a pending case.

Improper attempts to contact the Hearing Examiner directly, including through another person, about a pending case may violate the rules. Failure to follow the Rules of Procedure may result in dismissal of the case or a decision in favor of the other party.

When Will a Decision Be Made?

In most cases, the Hearing Examiner will not make a final decision during the hearing.

After the hearing, the Hearing Examiner will review the evidence and arguments and issue a written decision.

Depending on the applicable law, a party who has the legal right to appeal the decision may appeal the Hearing Examiner's decision.