Introduction
The purpose of this page is to explain the basics of representing yourself at an administrative hearing. What happens in your hearing may be a little different from the description here. This will depend on the type of hearing, the unique circumstances of your case, and the agency that made the decision from which you are appealing. Those differences are explained in this webpage.
Although it is generally desirable to be represented by attorneys, citizens who appear before the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) more often than not represent themselves. State agencies may be represented by an attorney; however, they may also be represented by agency representatives, who are not attorneys. Whether or not you or the agency has an attorney, Idaho law requires OAH Hearing Officers to provide “independent and unbiased decision-making” when hearing an administrative matter.
An administrative hearing is an informal way of resolving disputes between agencies and citizens without the strict procedural rules of a court. An OAH Administrative Law Judge conducts the hearing and prepares an order. Generally, an OAH Administrative Law Judge will prepare one of two kinds of orders: recommended orders and preliminary orders.
The difference is this: A preliminary order is one which may become a final order without any further action by the agency. A recommended order is different: it does not become a final order by itself; instead, an agency must issue the final order (or take other actions allowed by statute). The appeal rights section at the end of the OAH order will tell you what kind of order it is and what options are available after that order.
The ALJ who hears your case is either 1) an employee of OAH, or 2) an attorney who has contracted with the OAH. Hearing Officers, whether OAH employees or contracting attorneys, are not employees of the agency which issued the administrative decision. The OAH is an independent, self-governing agency, which provides professional Administrative Law Judges who are specially trained in administrative law and who must abide by a Code of Conduct established by OAH.
