Official Government Website
The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) provides two statutory functions with respect to hearings before Idaho’s agencies.
Mandatory Functions
Pursuant to Idaho Code §67-5280(2)(a), for agencies served by OAH¹, OAH is charged with “conduct[ing] all contested case proceedings that arise from an appeal of an agency order” unless otherwise specified by law.
To assign these matters to OAH, please complete the Contested Case Transmittal Sheet (if you are having difficulty downloading this sheet, please contact us via email or phone, and we can provide you with a copy of the current form):
Once completed and submitted, OAH will contact you within 1 business day to confirm the assignment and to gather any additional information. The OAH’s Code of Conduct states that OAH Hearing Officers “shall not communicate, directly or indirectly, regarding any substantive issue in the proceeding, with any party, except upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate in the communication.” (Section 2.9(A).) If any substantive issue needs to be addressed beyond the initial transmittal of information, the Hearing Officer will set a telephonic hearing for all parties to attend.
Permissive Functions
Pursuant to Idaho Code §67-5280(2)(b), OAH is authorized to “[c]onduct such adjudicatory hearings, mediations, and arbitrations” not otherwise required by the Administrative Procedure Act. As these are permissive functions of the OAH, any request made to the OAH for the provisions of such services must first be accepted by the OAH, and such services will be provided at rates established by the OAH under an MOU between the agency and OAH.
To make a request for such services, please complete the Other Case Transmittal Sheet (if you are having difficulty downloading this sheet, please contact us via email or phone, and we can provide you with a copy of the current form):
Once completed and submitted, OAH will contact you with 1 business day to confirm receipt, and to advise whether OAH will accept the request. If no MOU is currently in place, the OAH will provide your agency with a proposed MOU to address the requested, and future, matters. If the OAH is unable to accept the request, the OAH will still assist you in identifying a third-party who may provide such services.
¹ By statute (I.C. §67-5280(3)), OAH is expressly precluded from providing any services (mandatory or permissive) to the Department of Water Resources or the Water Resource Board. Other agencies conduct hearings which do not require utilization of OAH (for example, Idaho Code §67-5240 provides that “contested cases” do not include proceedings before “the public utilities commission, the industrial commission, the Idaho personnel commission, and the Idaho transportation department’s driver’s license suspension contested case hearings.”), but those agencies may nevertheless request permissive services (mediations, arbitrations, and adjudicatory hearings) from OAH, subject to acceptance by OAH and at monetary amounts established in a MOU between OAH and the agency.