Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the De Novo topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board adopts concise 'de novo' definition, agrees hearing procedure text appears elsewhere
Summary
After discussion about whether 'de novo' should be a definition or a procedural guide, the board adopted a concise definition (consistent with Cornell Law language) and noted detailed hearing procedure language will remain in the de novo hearings section of the draft rules.
Board members debated whether the term 'de novo' should simply be defined as a Latin term meaning 'from the beginning' or whether the definition should include step‑by‑step procedural guidance for how the Board conducts such hearings. Some members argued for a short, dictionary-style definition; others wanted process-level clarity in the same paragraph.
Chair Gene Ryan proposed a concise definition—"an appeal in which a case is completely retried without deference to prior determinations or findings"—that incorporated language discussed from Cornell Law. The board agreed to adopt the shorter definition in the definitions section and to keep the more detailed procedural description in the separate de novo hearings rule so the document does not duplicate content.
