Review Of Initial Orders Issued By Administrative Judges

(1) Except in circumstances described in T.C.A. § 4-5-315(a)(1) and (2), the department may review, and upon petition for appeal submitted to the OAA within fifteen (15) calendar days after entry of an Initial Order by an administrative judge, shall review the Initial Order. If the department on its own motion decides to review an Initial Order, it shall file its petition with the OAA and give written notice of its intention to review the Initial Order within fifteen (15) calendar days after its entry. Reviews of Initial Orders shall be conducted by the Commissioner’s Designee. (2) Pursuant to T.C.A. § 4-5-315(b), the fifteen (15) calendar day periods referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be tolled by the submission of a timely petition for reconsideration of the Initial Order pursuant to T.C.A. § 4-5-317 and a new fifteen (15) calendar day period shall start to run upon disposition of the petition for reconsideration. If an Initial Order is subject both to a timely petition for reconsideration and to a petition for appeal or to review by the agency on its own motion, the petition for reconsideration shall be disposed of first, unless the agency determines that action on the petition for reconsideration has been unreasonably delayed. (3) The petition for appeal shall state the grounds upon which the appeal is based. If the department on its own motion gives notice of its intent to review an Initial Order, it shall identify the issues that it intends to review. (4) The Commissioner’s Designee shall exercise all the decision-making power that the agency would have had to render a final order had the agency presided over the hearing, except to the extent that the issues subject to review are limited by rule or statute or by the agency upon notice to all parties. (5) Each party shall be afforded the opportunity to present briefs in accordance with a schedule established by the Commissioner’s Designee, who may, but is not required to permit oral argument. (6) The department may cause a transcript to be prepared at its expense of such portions of the proceeding under review as are deemed necessary. (7) The Commissioner’s Designee may render a Final Order disposing of the proceeding or may remand the matter for further proceeding with instructions to the administrative judge who rendered the Initial Order. Upon remanding a matter, the Commissioner’s Designee may order such temporary relief as is authorized and appropriate. (8) A Final Order or an order remanding the matter for further proceedings shall be rendered and entered in writing within sixty (60) days after receipt of briefs and oral argument, if permitted, unless that period is waived or extended with the written consent of all parties or for good cause shown. The Final Order or an order remanding the matter for further proceedings shall be delivered to each party and to the administrative judge who conducted the contested case. (9) A Final Order, or an order remanding the matter for further proceedings, shall identify any difference between such order and the Initial Order, and shall include, or incorporate by express reference to the Initial Order, all requirements of T.C.A. § 4-5-314(c).