The chief counsel to Illinois Governor George H. Ryan attended a panel discussion on the creation of a centralized Office of Administrative Hearings in Illinois but remained silent on the Governor's position on whether to support or oppose the concept. The panel discussion was co-sponsored by the IAALJ. Also participating in the program were representatives of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), the Chicago Council of Lawyers (CCL), the American Bar Association (ABA), the Chicago Bar Associations's (CBA) Administrative Law and Administrative Law Judge Committees and the National Association of Administrative Law Judges (NAALJ).

Much of the discussion focused on Senate Bill 113, which passed the State Senate by a vote of 58-0 until it was tabled in the Illinois House of Representatives Rules Committee. The bill may be considered by the Illinois House this year.

The bill would apply to all state agencies under the jurisdiction of the Governor, except nine. Generally excluded were those state agencies whose functions primarily include adjudication and not enforcement. The agencies that are included in the scope of the bill were those whose functions are both prosecutorial and adjudicative. One of the bill's primary purposes was to remove the perceived bias and unfairness of administrative adjudication where the presiding officer is both the judge and the prosecutor.

Speakers included Lawrence J. Suffredin, Legislative Counsel for the Chicago Bar Association; James M. Reilly, Director, City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, IAALJ and NAALJ board member and chair of the CBA Administrative Law Committee; Malcolm Rich, Executive Director, CCL, and principal author of articles on central hearing office concepts that appeared in "Judicature," the magazine of the American Judicature Society; Edward J. Schoenbaum, immediate past chair of the National Conference of Administrative Law Judges (ABA), past president of the NAALJ and editor of the Judicial Division Record (ABA); William A. Price, Professor of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, and ISBA Administrative law Section Council; and Laura Parry, chair, CBA Administrative Law Judges Committee and Administrative Law Officer, City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings.

Also appearing to show support were Cook County Circuit Court Judge Alexander White, Loyola University School of Law Professor Allen Schoenberger and dozens of members of the IAALJ and the other organizations. The proposal to develop an independent office of administrative hearings or central hearing agency in Illinois is similar to legislation or executive orders already enacted in a majority of the other states and currently being studied in several others including Illinois. Such an office consolidates hearing officials separate from the agencies over which they adjudicate, separating them from prosecutorial prejudices and influences.

The central hearing office concept was recommended in the 1981 Model State Administrative Procedures Act and was the subject of several previous bills introduced into the Illinois General Assembly. This latest bill was drafted several years ago by the Administrative Law Section of the ISBA then chaired by Judge White. The bill was substantially based upon the ABA and the NAALJ Model Acts Creating a State Central Hearing Agency.

The bill creates a new Article 12 in the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill covers all agencies under the jurisdiction of the Governor except the: Labor Relations Board; Educational Labor Relations Board; Commerce Commission; Industrial Commission; Civil Service Commission; Pollution Control Board; State Police Merit Board; Property Tax Appeals Board; and Human Rights Commission.

The bill creates an Office of Administrative Hearings headed by a Chief Administrative Law Judge who must be an attorney with at least ten years experience. Appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the State Senate, the Chief ALJ serves for a term of six years and may only be removed for cause after the opportunity for a hearing. The Chief ALJ will be paid $95,000 per year or such higher amount as approved by the Compensation Review Board.

The Administrative Law Judges employed by the Office generally must be attorneys with at least five years experience. Amendments to the bill in the Illinois Senate allow the Chief ALJ to hire non-attorneys as ALJs if the hearings require specialized expertise. All current full time and part -time Administrative Law Judges, who principally preside over administrative hearings are to be transferred to the Office along with their support staff and equipment. The transfer of the ALJs to the office insures that new Office would instantly have the expertise to handle the administrative caseload.

The bill also allows the Chief ALJ to hire contractual ALJs. Amendments to the bill also allowed the ALJs employed by the Office to be subject to the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.

. The Chief ALJ must establish hiring procedures based upon merit and fitness and may discipline Office employees only for good cause. The Chief ALJ must establish personnel rules and a general salary schedule according to a classification of employees, subject to merit increases. The Chief ALJ must adopt a code of conduct and rules concerning the hiring, discipline and termination of employees.

The bill provided that the Office may contract with agencies that are not subject to the Office, including local governments and school districts, to furnish administrative law judges to conduct administrative hearings.

In assigning ALJs, the Chief ALJ is charged, when possible, to use personnel experienced in the field or subject matter of the hearing and to assign ALJs primarily to the hearings of particular agencies on a long term basis.

The Office is also directed to establish a program of continuing education for ALJs and study administrative law and procedure for the purpose of improving the fairness, efficiency and uniformity of administrative adjudicatory procedure in Illinois. The Office is also charged with monitoring the quality and cost of administrative proceedings and to annually report the findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly.

The speakers on the panel stressed the fairness and efficiencies of the planned office using the examples of other states that have utilized such offices and Chicago's Department of Administrative Hearings which already has such a centralized office to hear the cases arising from other Chicago Departments. The speakers also mentioned the cost effectiveness of such offices.

Suffredin believed that the bill had an excellent chance of passage and hoped that the bill would be moved out of the House Rules Committee this Spring, although at the time of this writing no further action had been taken on the bill. The bill's subject was not included in the Governors State of the State address and was not included in a recent report on state government accountability that included recommendations for the elimination of several boards and commissions.

Copies of the bill may be obtained by contacting the editor at IAALJ@justice.com.