Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 1991/049.
1. There shall be an office of administrative trials and hearings which shall conduct adjudicatory hearings for all agencies of the city unless otherwise provided for by executive order, rule, law or pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. The office shall be directed by the chief administrative law judge, who shall be an attorney admitted to practice for at least five years in the state of New York. The chief administrative law judge shall be appointed by the mayor.
2. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law and except as provided in subdivision five of this section, the mayor shall be authorized to designate by executive order the office of administrative trials and hearings as the tribunal for the impartial administration and conduct of adjudicatory hearings for violations of this charter, the administrative code of the city of New York, rules promulgated pursuant to this charter or such code and any other laws, rules, regulations or other policies enforced or implemented by the agencies of the city through the conduct of adjudications. Pursuant to any such order, the mayor may transfer entire tribunals or parts thereof, or categories of adjudications to such office, which may perform such responsibilities, including responsibilities delegated elsewhere by this charter or other law, as the mayor shall direct in such order. In furtherance of any such order, agencies shall be authorized to establish their tribunals, or parts thereof, within such office. No existing right or remedy of any character shall be lost, impaired or affected by reason of a transfer of a tribunal or part thereof or category of adjudications pursuant to this subdivision except as may be necessary to implement such transfer.
3. Any order issued by the mayor pursuant to subdivision two of this section may include provision for matters pending at the time that any transfer pursuant to such subdivision shall take effect and may in appropriate instances deem agency rules in effect on the date of any transfer to be rules of the office of administrative trials and hearings. Any such order may in addition address circumstances in which agencies shall continue to make final findings of fact and/or decisions, determinations or orders.
4. (a) The mayor shall constitute a committee to evaluate the adjudicatory functions carried out by city agencies and to make recommendations with respect to the transfers authorized by subdivision two of this section. Such committee shall be chaired by the deputy mayor for legal affairs or another designee of the mayor. It shall have representatives from the office of administrative trials and hearings, the law department, the department of citywide administrative services and any other agency the mayor deems necessary to implement the transfers described in this section. The work of such committee shall be deemed complete upon submission to the mayor of a final report identifying the tribunals or parts thereof, or categories of adjudications, that have been consolidated or that should be considered for future consolidation, provided that the mayor may reconstitute the committee at any time to perform the functions described in this section.
(b) Before recommending transfers of tribunals or parts thereof, or of categories of adjudications, the committee shall solicit comments from the public, including, to the extent practicable, any segments of the public particularly affected by such transfers. In furtherance of such solicitation, the committee or a person or agency designated by the committee shall hold a public hearing, on notice of at least twenty days published in the City Record. Such notice shall specify the transfers that are under consideration by the committee for recommendation to the mayor.
(c) The authority conferred upon the mayor by subdivisions two and three of this section shall not be limited by or contingent upon the requirements of this subdivision.
5. Subdivisions two through four of this section shall not apply to the office of administrative tax appeals, including the tax commission and the tax appeals tribunal, or the board of standards and appeals.
(Am. L.L. 2015/064, 6/29/2015, eff. 9/27/2015)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 1991/049 and L.L. 2015/064.
1. (a) The chief administrative law judge shall have authority to direct the office established pursuant to section one thousand forty-eight with respect to its management and structure and to appoint a staff of administrative law judges. Each administrative law judge shall be an attorney admitted to practice in the state of New York for at least five years. Each administrative law judge shall be appointed for a term of five years removable only for cause after notice and opportunity for a hearing on a record.
(b) The provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision relating to terms and qualifications shall not be mandatory with respect to any administrative law judge or hearing officer transferred from another agency pursuant to subdivision two of section one thousand forty-eight of this chapter or assigned to any particular tribunal or part thereof, or category of adjudications, transferred pursuant to such subdivision that may be specified by the chief administrative law judge. The chief administrative law judge may prescribe alternative qualifications and terms and conditions of employment for any administrative law judges or hearing officers who are not subject to paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
2. (a) The chief administrative law judge shall establish rules for the conduct of hearings, in accordance with the requirements of chapter forty-five of the charter.
(b) In conjunction with the mayor and in accordance with the requirements of section thirteen-a of the charter, the chief administrative law judge shall promulgate and may from time to time amend rules establishing a code or codes of professional conduct governing the activities of all administrative law judges and hearing officers in city tribunals.
3. In the conduct of an adjudication, an administrative law judge may:
(a) hold conferences for the settlement or simplification of the issues;
(b) administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, rule upon offers of proof, receive evidence, and oversee and regulate discovery procedures;
(c) upon the request of an agency or any party, or upon the administrative law judge's own volition, subpoena the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, records, or other information;
(d) regulate the course of the hearing in accordance with agency rules and chapter forty-five of the charter, provided that if agency rules are silent as to a particular matter, the rules of the office of administrative trials and hearings shall apply;
(e) dispose of procedural requests or similar matters;
(f) make recommended or final findings of fact or decisions, determinations or orders, as authorized by law;
(g) take any other action authorized by law or agency rule consistent therewith.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the conduct of an adjudication relating to a natural person accused of committing a specified violation, as defined in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, an administrative law judge or a hearing officer shall offer the respondent the option to perform community service in lieu of a monetary civil penalty.
(a) For purposes of this section, the term "community service" means performing services for a public or not-for-profit corporation, association, institution, or agency in lieu of payment of a monetary civil penalty. Such services may include, but are not limited to, attendance at programs, either in person or web-based, designed to benefit, improve, or educate either the community or the respondent.
(b) For purposes of this section, the term "specified violation" means a violation of: subparagraph (i) of paragraph 9 of subdivision a of section 533; section 10-125 of the administrative code; subdivision 1 of section 16-118 of the administrative code; subdivision 6 of section 16-118 of the administrative code, with respect to the act of public urination; section 18-146 of the administrative code, excluding paragraphs 2, 3, 21, 23, and 24 of subdivision c; or subdivision (a) of section 24-218 of the administrative code. Specified violations shall not include violations arising during the course of conducting any commercial activity or violations arising from any activity carried out for a commercial purpose, except that a violation of paragraph 15 of section 18-146 of the administrative code is a specified violation, regardless of whether such violation arose during the course of conducting a commercial activity or from an activity carried out for a commercial purpose.
(c) The option to perform community service shall not require the payment of any fee by the respondent.
(d) The performance of community service offered pursuant to this subdivision shall not result in the displacement of employed workers or in the impairment of existing contracts for services, nor shall the performance of any such services be required or permitted in any establishment involved in any labor strike or lockout.
(e) An administrative law judge or a hearing officer shall offer up to seven hours of community service in lieu of payment of a civil penalty in an amount up to 300 dollars. Fractional and multiple hours of service shall be offered for civil penalties that are less than, and greater than, 300 dollars, respectively.
(f) If a respondent accepts the option to perform community service and an administrative law judge or hearing officer finds that the respondent has failed to perform such services within the time prescribed, an administrative law judge or hearing officer shall issue an order reinstating the applicable civil penalty and, if otherwise authorized by law, such order shall constitute a judgment which may be entered and enforced without court proceedings in the same manner as the enforcement of money judgments entered in civil actions.
(g) The office of administrative trials and hearings shall promulgate any rules as may be necessary for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this subdivision, which shall include, but not be limited to, rules specifying the correspondence between the amount of service that shall be offered and the amount of civil penalties imposed.
5. During the course of an adjudication and upon the request of an agency or any party, or upon the administrative law judge's or hearing officer's own initiative, an administrative law judge or hearing officer may dismiss a notice of violation for a specified violation, as defined by paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 of this section, when dismissal is appropriate in the interest of justice, within the meaning of this subdivision.
(a) An administrative law judge or hearing officer may dismiss a notice of violation in the interest of justice when, even though there may be no basis for dismissal as a matter of law, such dismissal is appropriate as a matter of discretion due to the existence of one or more compelling factors, considerations, or circumstances clearly demonstrating that finding the respondent in violation of the provision at issue would constitute or result in injustice. In determining whether such compelling factor, consideration, or circumstance exists, the administrative law judge or hearing officer must, to the extent applicable, examine and consider, individually and collectively, the following:
(i) the seriousness and circumstances of the violation;
(ii) the extent of harm caused by the violation;
(iii) the evidence supporting or refuting the violation charged, whether admissible or inadmissible at a hearing;
(iv) the history, character, and condition of the respondent;
(v) the purpose and effect of imposing upon the respondent a civil penalty authorized by one of the provisions listed in this section;
(vi) the impact of a dismissal on the safety or welfare of the community;
(vii) the impact of a dismissal upon the confidence of the public in the office of administrative trials and hearings and in the implementation of laws by the city of New York;
(viii) the position of the relevant city agency regarding the proposed dismissal with reference to the specific circumstances of the respondent and the violation charged; and
(ix) any other relevant fact indicating that a decision to sustain the alleged violation would or would not serve a useful purpose.
(b) The administrative law judge or hearing officer's determination shall be limited to a consideration of the factors described in paragraph (a), and shall not include a consideration of the administrative law judge or hearing officer's judgment as to whether, as a matter of policy, certain conduct should be prohibited.
(c) Upon dismissing a violation in the interest of justice, the administrative law judge or hearing officer must set forth the reasons therefor upon the record.
6. No later than 20 days after the quarter ending June 30, 2017, and no later than 20 days after the end of each quarter thereafter, the chief administrative law judge shall submit to the council and the mayor, and post to the office of administrative trial and hearing's website a report regarding adjudications for specified violations, as defined by paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 of this section, during the prior quarter. Such report shall contain the number and percentage of such adjudications, in total and disaggregated by violation, in which:
(a) the respondent appeared, in total and disaggregated by whether such appearance was made in person or by another method;
(b) the respondent accepted the option to perform community service pursuant to subdivision 4 of this section, in total and disaggregated by whether such service was performed;
(c) a pre-adjudication withdrawal was made by the agency;
(d) a decision was rendered after a hearing;
(e) a civil penalty was ordered, disaggregated by numerical ranges of penalty amounts;
(f) the violation was dismissed;
(g) the violation was dismissed in the interest of justice pursuant to subdivision 5 of this section;
(h) the respondent paid the civil penalties imposed, in whole or in part; and
(i) a default judgment was ordered due to the respondent's failure to appear for a hearing.
7. The chief administrative law judge shall conduct a yearly evaluation of penalties and judgments imposed for specified violations, as defined by paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 of this section. Such evaluation shall examine the amount of penalties and judgments accrued by natural persons for such specified violations both in total and during the previous year. A summary of this evaluation shall be provided to the council and the mayor within 45 days of the end of each year. Such summary shall include, but not be limited to, the number of natural persons who have accrued civil penalties and judgments in amounts higher than 500 dollars, 750 dollars, 1000 dollars, and 2000 dollars, both in total and during the previous year, for specified violations. Such summary shall additionally include the chief administrative law judge's recommendation as to whether, based upon the chief administrative law judge's evaluation, a limit should be enacted by local law on the civil penalties and judgments that may be imposed for specified violations upon a natural person within a particular period of time. This recommendation shall take into account whether the amount of civil penalties or community service imposed for the specified violations on certain natural persons is disproportionate to the harm caused by such specified violations and shall additionally include the chief administrative law judge's recommendations for which specified violations, if any, should be subject to a limit and the dollar amount of such limit, if any.
(Am. L.L. 2016/073, 6/13/2016, eff. 6/13/2016 and 6/13/2017)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 1991/049.
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