Notwithstanding any other administrative procedure of this jurisdiction, and unless otherwise specified by State law or within this Code, the following administrative procedure shall be applied for all County Agricultural Commissioner hearings pertaining to the revocation or non-renewal of an industrial hemp cultivation registration issued pursuant to § 33.1603.
(a) An appeal made under this Section shall be made in writing, addressed to the County Agricultural Commissioner, within 30 calendar days of notice of the denial, suspension, or revocation of the industrial hemp cultivation registration.
(b) The hearing officer shall be appointed by the County Agricultural Commissioner to hear such appeals. Any such appointee shall be a person who has no knowledge of the facts of the particular case at the outset of the hearing, and a person not immediately involved with enforcement activities pertaining to industrial hemp cultivation. As an alternative to the preceding, the County Agricultural Commissioner may instead contract with the Office of Administrative Hearings of the State of California pursuant to Government Code § 27727.
(c) The hearing shall be held within 45 calendar days after receipt of a request for a hearing. Upon written request of the permit holder, the hearing officer may postpone the hearing date or it may be postponed or continued by stipulation of the parties. If the party notified does not respond or appear, no further hearing procedure shall be required.
(d) At the hearing, the registered hemp entity shall be given an opportunity to review the County Agricultural Commissioner’s evidence and to present evidence on its own behalf. Any witness shall swear or affirm to tell the truth. The hearing need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the sort of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make improper the admission of the evidence over objection in civil actions. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining other evidence, but shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions. The rules of privilege shall be effective to the extent that they are otherwise required by statute to be recognized at the hearing and irrelevant and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded.
(e) If an administrative hearing is requested, a proposed decision and order shall be made by a hearing officer within 60 calendar days of the conclusion of the hearing. The final decision and order shall be made by the County Agricultural Commissioner. This order shall be mailed to the appealing party and is effective as of the date on the notice.
(Ord. 4445, passed - -2022)