MS HB415

Creates the Office of Independent State Hearing Officers to conduct hearings and render decisions on matters before state agencies as an alternative to agency-specific hearing officers.

Office headed by a Governor-appointed director serving four-year terms, removable only for cause, housed at the Department of Finance and Administration with dedicated appropriated funding.

Director contracts with at least five experienced hearing officers who are assigned on a rotating basis to hear cases, preventing the same officer from regularly handling matters for a particular agency.

Persons or entities with issues before state agencies may elect to have an independent hearing officer hear their case instead of the agency's own hearing officer.

Appeal of a hearing officer's decision goes to a three-judge panel from the office for de novo review, with further judicial review available in Hinds County Circuit Court on grounds of lack of substantial evidence, arbitrary or capricious action, or violation of statutory or constitutional rights; effective July 1, 2025.