SB577 Summary

• Establishes the Office of Administrative Hearings as an independent unit in the judicial branch to consolidate administrative law judges and hearing officers from various state agencies, effective October 1, 2010.

• Creates the State Advisory Council on Administrative Hearings composed of the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Presiding Circuit Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, chairs of both Judiciary Committees, and the Attorney General to appoint a chief administrative law judge and promulgate rules.

• Requires the chief administrative law judge to be a member of the Alabama State Bar in good standing with 10 years of law practice and 5 years of judicial or administrative law judge service; serves a six-year term and may be removed for good cause by four-fifths vote of the advisory council.

• Makes all administrative hearings subject to Alabama's open meetings laws and due process requirements, applies Canons of Judicial Ethics to all administrative law judges, and establishes their powers including issuing subpoenas, administering oaths, and issuing stays.

• Appropriates funds from the State General Fund and Education Trust Fund for fiscal year 2011 with future funding split on a pro rata basis between General Fund and Education Trust Fund agencies based on prior year case submissions.