About OAH

About the Office of Administrative Hearings

In 2022, the Legislature passed House Bill 629, creating the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The purpose of the legislation was to create an independent agency to house administrative law judges to conduct fair hearings in contested agency cases without the perception of bias. The OAH conducts contested case proceedings from most Idaho state agencies, and is also allowed to conduct adjudicatory hearings, mediations, and arbitrations requested by state agencies.

OAH is headed by a Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, who is broadly charged with supervising other OAH hearing officers, implementing quality controls for contested cases which OAH conducts, and to develop and maintain a code of conduct for hearing officers within OAH’s purview.

Like other State of Idaho agencies, OAH annual completes a strategic plan, outlining OAH’s goals for the next several years. The most current version of OAH’s strategic plan may be found here.

OAH’s Administrative Law Judges

Bryan Nickels – Chief Administrative Hearing Officer

Bryan Nickels was appointed by Governor Brad Little to be the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer for the newly-created OAH on September 6, 2022.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Nickels was a partner and founding member of Scanlan, Griffiths, Aldridge + Nickels, a civil trial and litigation law firm in Boise, and has more than 20 years of experience in administrative, civil, and criminal law. Mr. Nickels was also a registered civil mediator and civil litigation evaluator prior to joining OAH. His areas of practice included civil litigation, administrative law, criminal defense, medical indigency, and appellate litigation. He is a member of the Richard C. Fields American Inn of Court No. 130, and a member of the Idaho Mediation Association and Idaho State Bar Association. Mr. Nickels received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Idaho before receiving his Juris Doctorate at Boston College Law School. Mr. Nickels has also previously served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Idaho, teaching civil litigation, as well as Boise State University, teaching business law.

Mr. Nickels currently serves on the Selective Service System District Appeal Board for the State of Idaho, and also serves on the governing councils for the Appellate Practice Section and the Health Law Section of the Idaho State Bar. Mr. Nickels has also previously served on the 4th District Magistrates Commission, as well as the Ada County Historic Preservation Council. Mr. Nickels is admitted to all state courts in Idaho, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, the Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Leslie Hayes – Deputy Chief Administrative Hearing Officer

Leslie Hayes joined the OAH on November 15, 2022. Prior to coming to the OAH, she spent ten years with the Office of the Attorney General in the Civil Litigation Division. During her time with the Office, she has handled administrative appeals in front of the Idaho Personnel Commission, the Idaho Board of Veterinary Medicine, the Idaho Lottery Commission, the Idaho Charter Commission, and many more. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Ms. Hayes worked in private practice in insurance defense and clerked for the Idaho Supreme Court. Ms. Hayes has represented clients in all Idaho state courts, the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, the Western District of Washington, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Ms. Hayes attended the University of Portland and Gonzaga University School of Law, graduating cum laude. She is active in the bar, volunteering to grade bar exams and serving as a member of the Appellate and Litigation Section Governing Council. She also sits on the Board of Directors for Idaho Women Lawyers, currently serving as the President of the Board. Ms. Hayes is the recipient of the Idaho State Bar’s Service Award and Idaho Business Reviews Women of the Year and Leaders in the Law Award.

Scott Zanzig – Lead Administrative Law Judge

Before joining OAH, Mr. Zanzig practiced law for more than 30 years as a civil litigator. Mr. Zanzig spent more than 20 years in private practice representing individuals and businesses in a wide variety of cases involving contracts, business torts, securities, real estate, lender liability, consumer protection, insurance coverage, and employment disputes. He also served for almost 10 years in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office handling a wide variety of civil cases, including numerous administrative hearings and appeals. Mr. Zanzig has tried cases in federal and state courts and in private arbitrations, and has handled numerous appeals before state and federal appellate courts. Before entering law practice, Mr. Zanzig served as a law clerk to a federal district judge.

Mr. Zanzig has been a member of the Idaho State Bar since 2013. He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Idaho College of Law, teaching trial advocacy. He also has volunteered time as a moot court judge at the College of Law, and previously served as an instructor in the National Institute for Trial Advocacy’s Northwest Deposition Program.

Tyler Beck – Administrative Law Judge

Tyler Beck began his career as a deputy city attorney, prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the City of Boise. While there he managed a high volume, litigation heavy court calendar, and achieved convictions in numerous bench and jury trials. He was appointed as the lead prosecutor for the Boise City Attorney’s Office DUI court team, as well as the Blood Alcohol Content Chemical Test Refusal court team. Additionally, he acted as a police liaison, providing training, legal advice, and on-call expedited warrant applications for local police departments.

In January 2022, Mr. Beck joined the Idaho Office of the Attorney General, where he represented the Idaho Department of Correction, the Board of Correction, the Idaho Commission for Pardons and Parole, Idaho Correctional Industries, and their employees on a wide variety of matters, including: federal and state prison civil rights litigation; tort claims; employment law matters; administrative law appeals; updating policies and procedures; providing legislative updates; assisting in subpoena and public records responses; and a broad range of other matters. Mr. Beck then transitioned to the Attorney General’s Fair Hearings Unit, where he acted as a hearing officer presiding over Idaho Department of Health and Welfare contested appeal hearings, ensuring due process to the involved parties.

He received his undergraduate degree from Boise State University, and law degree from the University of Idaho College of Law in 2014 and is admitted to practice in all Idaho state courts and the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.

Merritt Dublin – Administrative Law Judge

Merritt Dublin joined the OAH July 1, 2024. Ms. Dublin has enjoyed a diverse legal career in both the public and private sectors since graduating cum laude from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1996. For the past three years, Ms. Dublin was a Professor with the University of Idaho, College of Law, serving as the Director of the Family Justice Clinic and instructing experiential learning courses. Previously, she clerked for two federal district court judges, practiced in commercial litigation defense for an international law firm, and served two Attorneys General as Chief Counsel for Child Protective Services in Arizona and Lead Deputy Attorney General for the Idaho State Police. She has participated in a variety of administrative proceedings as both an agency attorney and on behalf of private parties. Ms. Dublin has also served as a court approved mediator.

Michelle Vos – Administrative Law Judge

Michelle Vos joined OAH on July 1, 2024. Prior to joining OAH, Ms. Vos was a Hearing Officer with the Fair Hearings Unit of the Idaho Office of the Attorney General where she presided over contested case hearings from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Ms. Vos began her legal career in Florida representing municipal corporations and businesses in matters involving land use, environmental law, and code enforcement. After moving to Idaho in 2012, she advised an Idaho rehabilitation health care system on a broad range of regulatory and compliance matters and ensured compliance with state and federal laws related to managed care. From 2016 to 2023, Ms. Vos worked full-time in academia, most recently as an Assistant Professor of Law at Widener University Commonwealth Law School. She taught business law to future business leaders and accountants as a full-time Lecturer for Legal Studies in Business at Boise State University. And she developed a corporate compliance course which she taught as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Idaho College of Law.

Ms. Vos earned her JD cum laude at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Florida, where she served on the St. Thomas Law Review, and interned for then Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis as part of the Florida Supreme Court Internship Program for Distinguished Florida Law Students. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies at Florida International University and her Graduate Certificate in College Teaching at Boise State University. Ms. Vos is licensed to practice law in Florida and Idaho. She served as an Articles Editor with the Journal of Legal Studies Education and served on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Advocate, the official publication of the Idaho State Bar.

Public Records Requests

Pursuant to Section 74-119, Idaho Code, the current Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (Bryan Nickels) is designated the custodian of records to receive public record requests; the alternate custodian is the current Deputy Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (Leslie Hayes). The contact information for the current custodian, as well as the alternate custodian, is general@oah.idaho.gov.