Hearings and Appeals division says it meets statutory timelines, eyes electronic filing to speed contested-workers’ compensation cases

At a joint subcommittee hearing, Department of Administration officials said the Hearings and Appeals Division is meeting statutory deadlines for contested workers’ compensation appeals and is preparing to launch an electronic filing system to reduce delay.

The Department of Administration’s director, Joy Grimmer, told the committee that “the overall vacancy rate as of February 1 for our department is 11.16%.” Dean Hardy, the Senior Appeals Officer for the Hearings and Appeals Division, said the division is “funded for 51 full time employees” and that although caseloads have increased, there is currently no backlog: “We have plenty of cases that are within the system, but there's no backlog.”

Why it matters: Lawmakers pressed the division on staffing, case complexity and operational tools after several years of higher appeals volumes following the pandemic. Committee members pressed for details on caseloads, technology and the drivers of increased appeals to judge whether additional funding or positions are needed.

Hardy told legislators the division receives about 300 new cases per week in Las Vegas at the hearing-officer level and about 100 per week in Carson City, and that the appeals layer is more complex and frequently requires medical testimony or independent medical examinations. He described typical causes of delay as coordination of medical testimony, scheduling independent medical exams and attorneys requesting continuances. He said appeals officers are prepared to hear cases at initial settings but that many matters must be reset for a full evidentiary hearing.

Hardy described recent budget requests including modest equipment and software increases and line items intended to support courtroom productivity suites. He described an increase of about $3,930.02 for small equipment, a request for interpretive services of roughly $12,000, and ongoing licensing and hardware costs to support courtroom productivity and recordings. He also said an appeals-officer position was added during the interim (referred to in the presentation as item E300).

On staffing, Hardy said appeals officers in Las Vegas and Carson City work across case dockets and that an appeals officer currently handles a large active caseload — he estimated “somewhere between a 1,400 cases being handled by each appeals officer.” Assembly and Senate members asked whether new tools such as artificial intelligence had reduced backlog; Hardy said the division tested AI but concluded that implementing an electronic filing system would have far greater operational benefit. “We believe that the implementation of electronic filing is going to make the operation at hearings and appeals so much more efficient,” he said.

Committee members asked follow-up questions about whether the increased caseload reflects post-pandemic construction activity and associated workplace injuries; Hardy said multiple factors contributed, including post-pandemic construction increases in Las Vegas and Reno that produced more industrial injuries and contested claims.

Less-critical details and next steps: Hardy said the division meets regularly with an outside vendor and an internal team and is “very, very close to implementation” of electronic filing. He also said stakeholders will be engaged through the legislative process. The presentation included multiple operating-line increases for court recording systems, productivity suites and courtroom-related licenses; Hardy and Grimmer said staff can provide additional line-item detail to the committee on request.