183.635. ����� (2) The chief administrative law judge may contract with any political subdivision of this state to provide the services of administrative law judges to the political subdivision for t

183.635.

����� (2) The chief administrative law judge may contract with any political subdivision of this state to provide the services of administrative law judges to the political subdivision for the purpose of conducting quasi-judicial hearings on behalf of the political subdivision. [1999 c. 849 �10; 2003 c.75 �9]

����� 183.645 Request for change of administrative law judge; rules. (1) After assignment of an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings to conduct a hearing on behalf of an agency, the chief administrative law judge shall assign a different administrative law judge for the hearing upon receiving a written request from any party in the contested case or from the agency. The chief administrative law judge may by rule establish time limitations and procedures for requests under this section.

����� (2) Only one request for a change of assignment of administrative law judge under subsection (1) of this section may be granted by the chief administrative law judge without a showing of good cause. If a party or agency fails to make a request under subsection (1) of this section within the time allowed, or if a party or agency objects to an administrative law judge assigned after a request for a different administrative law judge has been granted under subsection (1) of this section, the chief administrative law judge shall assign a different administrative law judge only upon a showing of good cause.

����� (3) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, a different administrative law judge may not be assigned for a hearing provided under ORS 813.410 or 813.440 on suspension of driving privileges, except upon a showing of good cause. [1999 c.849 �11; 2001 c.294 �8; 2003 c.75 �10]

����� 183.650 Form of order; modification of form of order by agency; finding of historical fact. (1) In any contested case hearing conducted by an administrative law judge assigned from the Office of Administrative Hearings, the administrative law judge shall prepare and serve on the agency and all parties to the hearing a form of order, including recommended findings of fact and conclusions of law. The administrative law judge shall also prepare and serve a proposed order in the manner provided by ORS 183.464 unless the agency or hearing is exempt from the requirements of ORS 183.464.

����� (2) If the administrative law judge assigned from the office will not enter the final order in a contested case proceeding, and the agency modifies the form of order issued by the administrative law judge in any substantial manner, the agency must identify the modifications and provide an explanation to the parties to the hearing as to why the agency made the modifications.

����� (3) An agency conducting a contested case hearing may modify a finding of historical fact made by the administrative law judge assigned from the Office of Administrative Hearings only if the agency determines that there is clear and convincing evidence in the record that the finding was wrong. For the purposes of this section, an administrative law judge makes a finding of historical fact if the administrative law judge determines that an event did or did not occur in the past or that a circumstance or status did or did not exist either before the hearing or at the time of the hearing.

����� (4) Notwithstanding ORS 19.415 (3), if a party seeks judicial review of an agency�s modification of a finding of historical fact under subsection (3) of this section, the court shall make an independent finding of the fact in dispute by conducting a review de novo of the record viewed as a whole. If the court decides that the agency erred in modifying the finding of historical fact made by the administrative law judge, the court shall remand the matter to the agency for entry of an order consistent with the court�s judgment. [1999 c.849 �12; 2003 c.75 �11; 2009 c.231 �5; 2009 c.866 �7]

����� 183.655 Fees. The chief administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings shall establish a schedule of fees for services rendered by administrative law judges assigned from the office. The fee charged shall be in an amount calculated to recover the cost of providing the administrative law judge, the cost of conducting the hearing and all associated administrative costs. All fees collected by the chief administrative law judge under this section shall be paid into the Office of Administrative Hearings Operating Account created under ORS 183.660. [1999 c.849 �13; 2003 c.75 �12]

����� 183.660 Office of Administrative Hearings Operating Account. (1) The Office of Administrative Hearings Operating Account is created within the General Fund. The account shall consist of moneys paid into the account under ORS 183.655. Moneys credited to the account are continuously appropriated to the chief administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings created under ORS 183.605 for the purpose of paying expenses incurred in the administration of the office.

����� (2) At the discretion of the chief administrative law judge, petty cash funds may be established and maintained for the purpose of administering the duties of the office. [1999 c.849 �14; 2003 c.75 �13]

����� 183.665 Estimates of office expenses. The chief administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings shall estimate in advance the expenses that the office will incur during each biennium and shall notify each agency required to use the office�s services of the agency�s share of the anticipated expenses for periods within the biennium. [1999 c.849 �15; 2003 c.75 �14]

����� 183.670 Rules. Subject to the provisions of the State Personnel Relations Law, the chief administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings may adopt rules to:

����� (1) Organize and manage the Office of Administrative Hearings established under ORS 183.605.

����� (2) Facilitate the performance of the duties of administrative law judges assigned from the office.

����� (3) Establish qualifications for persons employed as administrative law judges by the office.

����� (4) Establish standards and procedures for the evaluation and training of administrative law judges employed by the office, consistent with standards and training requirements established under ORS 183.680. [1999 c.849 �16; 2003 c.75 �15]

����� 183.675 Alternative dispute resolution. ORS 183.605 to 183.690 do not limit in any way the ability of any agency to use alternative dispute resolution, including mediation or arbitration, to resolve disputes without conducting a contested case hearing or without requesting assignment of an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings. [1999 c.849 �16a; 2003 c.75 �16]

����� 183.680 Standards and training program. (1) The chief administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings, working in coordination with the Attorney General, shall design and implement a standards and training program for administrative law judges employed by the office and for persons seeking to be employed as administrative law judges by the office. The program shall include:

����� (a) The establishment of an ethical code for persons employed as administrative law judges by the office.

����� (b) Training for administrative law judges employed by the office that is designed to assist in identifying cases that are appropriate for the use of alternative dispute resolution processes.

����� (2) The program established by the chief administrative law judge under this section may include:

����� (a) The conducting of courses on administrative law, evidence, hearing procedures and other issues that arise in presiding over administrative hearings, including courses designed to provide any training required by the chief administrative law judge for administrative law judges employed by the office.

����� (b) The certification of courses offered by other persons for the purpose of any training required by the chief administrative law judge for administrative law judges employed by the office.

����� (c) The provision of specialized training for administrative law judges in subject matter areas affecting particular agencies required to use administrative law judges assigned from the office.

����� (3) The chief administrative law judge is bound by the ethical code established under this section and must satisfactorily complete training required of administrative law judges employed by the office other than specialized training in subject matter areas affecting particular agencies. [1999 c.849 �19; 2003 c.75 �17]

����� 183.685 Ex parte communications. (1) An administrative law judge assigned from the Office of Administrative Hearings who is presiding in a contested case proceeding and who receives an ex parte communication described in subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall place in the record of the pending matter:

����� (a) The name of each person from whom the administrative law judge received an ex parte communication;

����� (b) A copy of any ex parte written communication received by the administrative law judge;

����� (c) A copy of any written response to the communication made by the administrative law judge;

����� (d) A memorandum reflecting the substance of any ex parte oral communication made to the administrative law judge; and

����� (e) A memorandum reflecting the substance of any oral response made by the administrative law judge to an ex parte oral communication.

����� (2) Upon making a record of an ex parte communication under subsection (1) of this section, an administrative law judge shall advise the agency and all parties in the proceeding that an ex parte communication has been made a part of the record. The administrative law judge shall allow the agency and parties an opportunity to respond to the ex parte communication.

����� (3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of this section apply to communications that:

����� (a) Relate to a legal or factual issue in a contested case proceeding;

����� (b) Are made directly or indirectly to an administrative law judge while the proceeding is pending; and

����� (c) Are made without notice and opportunity for the agency and all parties to participate in the communication.

����� (4) The provisions of this section apply to any ex parte communication made directly or indirectly to an administrative law judge, or to any agent of an administrative law judge, by:

����� (a) A party;

����� (b) A party�s representative or legal adviser;

����� (c) Any other person who has a direct or indirect interest in the outcome of the proceeding;

����� (d) Any other person with personal knowledge of the facts relevant to the proceeding; or

����� (e) Any officer, employee or agent of an agency.

����� (5) The provisions of this section do not apply to:

����� (a) Communications made to an administrative law judge by other administrative law judges; or

����� (b) Communications made to an administrative law judge by any person employed by the office to assist the administrative law judge. [1999 c.849 �20; 2003 c.75 �18; 2009 c.866 �9]

����� 183.690 Office of Administrative Hearings Oversight Committee. (1) The Office of Administrative Hearings Oversight Committee is created. The committee consists of nine members, as follows:

����� (a) The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint four legislators to the committee. Two shall be Senators appointed by the President. Two shall be Representatives appointed by the Speaker.

����� (b) The Governor shall appoint two members to the committee. At least one of the members appointed by the Governor shall be an active licensee of the Oregon State Bar with experience in representing parties who are not agencies in contested case hearings.

����� (c) The Attorney General shall appoint two members to the committee.

����� (d) The chief administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings shall serve as an ex officio member of the committee. The chief administrative law judge may cast a vote on a matter before the committee if the votes of the other members are equally divided on the matter.

����� (2) The term of a legislative member of the committee shall be two years. If a person appointed by the President of the Senate or by the Speaker of the House ceases to be a Senator or Representative during the person�s term on the committee, the person may continue to serve as a member of the committee for the balance of the member�s term on the committee. The term of all other appointed members shall be four years. Appointed members of the committee may be reappointed. If a vacancy occurs in one of the appointed positions for any reason during the term of membership, the official who appointed the member to the vacated position shall appoint a new member to serve the remainder of the term. An appointed member of the committee may be removed from the committee at any time by the official who appointed the member.

����� (3)(a) The members of the committee shall select from among themselves a chairperson and a vice chairperson.

����� (b) The committee shall meet at such times and places as determined by the chairperson.

����� (4) Legislative members shall be entitled to payment of per diem and expense reimbursement under ORS 171.072, payable from funds appropriated to the Legislative Assembly.

����� (5) The committee shall:

����� (a) Study the operations of the Office of Administrative Hearings;

����� (b) Make any recommendations to the Governor and the Legislative Assembly that the committee deems necessary to increase the effectiveness, fairness and efficiency of the operations of the Office of Administrative Hearings;

����� (c) Make any recommendations for additional legislation governing the operations of the Office of Administrative Hearings;

����� (d) Make recommendations to the Governor for the appointment or reappointment of the chief administrative law judge; and

����� (e) Conduct such other studies as necessary to accomplish the purposes of this subsection.

����� (6)(a) The Office of Administrative Hearings shall provide the committee with staff.

����� (b) The Employment Department shall provide the committee with human resources services and assist the committee with candidate searches for appointment of the chief administrative law judge. [1999 c.849 �21; 2003 c.75 �19; 2005 c.22 �132; 2009 c.866 �3; 2023 c.52 �2; 2025 c.32 �96]

PERMITS AND LICENSES

����� 183.700 Permits subject to ORS 183.702. (1) As used in this section and ORS 183.702, �permit� means an individual and particularized license, permit, certificate, approval, registration or similar form of permission required by law to pursue any activity specified in this section, for which an agency must weigh information, make specific findings and make determinations on a case-by-case basis for each applicant.

����� (2) The requirements of this section and ORS 183.702 apply to the following permits granted by:

����� (a) The Department of Environmental Quality under ORS 448.415, 454.655, 454.695,