House Judiciary committee advances bill to modernize contested‑case procedures

The House Judiciary and Rules Committee voted unanimously by voice vote to send House Bill 9 to general orders after a presentation from the Office of Administrative Hearings and the bill's sponsor.

House Bill 9 would update references to the recently adopted Idaho Rules of Administrative Procedure, modernize contested‑case provisions in the Idaho Administrative Procedure Act and add procedural limits, including a 120‑day deadline for resolving certain emergency agency orders, presenters told the committee. Representative Bruce of District 23 introduced the measure and asked that the committee permit amendments on general orders.

Brian Nichols, chief administrative officer for the Office of Administrative Hearings, told the committee the bill is primarily a cleanup and modernization effort. "Administrative law is not for sissies," Nichols said, quoting a Justice Scalia line he uses to summarize the work of administrative law. Nichols said the bill, which he described as about 23 pages, removes obsolete references to the former Idaho Rules of Administrative Procedure maintained by the Attorney General and updates statutory language to reflect that the Office of Administrative Hearings now…