No earlier than nine (9) months before the expiration of an Administrative Law Judge's term of office, any Administrative Law Judge seeking reappointment to a new term (including a Senior Administrative Law Judge) shall file a statement with the Commission and with the Chief Administrative Law Judge requesting reappointment.
If such a statement is not filed by any Administrative Law Judge at least six (6) months before the expiration of his or her term, a vacancy shall result from the expiration of the term of office and shall be filled by appointment as provided in section 3702.
The statement may review significant aspects of the Administrative Law Judge's activities that the Administrative Law Judge believes will be helpful to the Commission in the evaluation of his or her candidacy for reappointment.
For every Administrative Law Judge who files a statement in accordance with section 3705.1, the Chief Administrative Law Judge shall prepare a record for the Commission's review. That record shall contain:
The Chief Administrative Law Judge shall file the record required by section 3705.4 with the Clerk within 120 days of the filing of a statement by the Administrative Law Judge in accordance with section 3705.1.
The Chief Administrative Law Judge shall serve a copy of the record upon the Administrative Law Judge no later than the same day that the record is filed with the Commission.
As soon as practicable after receiving a statement of intent to seek reappointment from an Administrative Law Judge, the Commission shall publish a notice in the District of Columbia Register that the Administrative Law Judge is seeking reappointment and that the Commission is soliciting the views of litigants, attorneys and members of the public on whether the Administrative Law Judge should be reappointed.
The notice required by section 3705.7 shall call for comments to be submitted to the Commission within thirty (30) calendar days of its publication.
The Commission shall provide copies of any comments it receives to the Administrative Law Judge, and shall redact the names and other information that identifies the person submitting the comments.
Within ten (10) calendar days of service of the record or of the Commission's sending of public comments to the Administrative Law Judge, whichever is later, an Administrative Law Judge who wishes to respond to the Chief Administrative Law Judge's recommendation or to any public comments or to add information to the record that he or she believes should be considered with respect to his or her reappointment shall file with the Clerk a notice of intent to supplement the record. The Administrative Law Judge may file such a notice regardless of whether he or she files a request to appear before the Commission. The notice shall describe generally the additional information that the Administrative Law Judge intends to add to the record and shall be promptly transmitted to the members of the Commission by the Clerk.
Within ten (10) calendar days of service of the record, or of the Commission's sending of public comments to the Administrative Law Judge, whichever is later, an Administrative Law Judge who wishes to appear before the Commission to be heard in person concerning his or her reappointment shall file with the Clerk a request to appear. The Administrative Law Judge may file such a request regardless of whether he or she has filed a notice of intent to supplement the record. The request shall be promptly transmitted to the members of the Commission by the Clerk.
If the Administrative Law Judge does not timely file a notice of intent to supplement the record or a request to appear, the Commission may proceed to consider the application for reappointment based solely on the Administrative Law Judge's written statement, the record filed by the Chief Administrative Law Judge and any public comments.
If an Administrative Law Judge files a notice of intent to supplement the record, he or she must file with the Commission and the Chief Administrative Law Judge any response to the Chief Administrative Law Judge's recommendation and any additional information that he or she wishes the Commission to consider within twenty (20) calendar days of filing the notice of intent to supplement.
If an Administrative Law Judge fails to supplement the record within the deadline established in section 3705.13, the Commission may proceed to consider the reappointment without waiting for the filing of any supplement to the record by the Administrative Law Judge.
If an Administrative Law Judge has filed a request to appear before the Commission, the Commission may not vote on his or her reappointment or issue a notice of grounds for possible denial of reappointment unless it affords the Administrative Law Judge an opportunity to appear before it.
The Commission may request that an Administrative Law Judge appear personally or respond in writing to any questions or concerns it may have.
No Administrative Law Judge may be denied reappointment unless the Commission first serves upon him or her a notice of grounds for possible denial of reappointment. Any such notice shall specify the reasons why the Commission is considering the possible denial of his or her application for reappointment and shall set a date, at least twenty (20) days after service of the notice, on which the Commission will meet to consider final action on the request for reappointment. The Commission may not take final action on the request for reappointment until the conclusion of such meeting.
Within fifteen (15) days of service of a notice of grounds for possible denial of reappointment, an Administrative Law Judge may file a written response to the notice, and may request an opportunity to appear at the Commission's meeting.
An Administrative Law Judge who timely files a request to appear at the Commission's meeting shall have the right to appear and be heard at the meeting. In its discretion, the Commission may permit other persons to testify at the meeting, either in support of, or in opposition to, the request for reappointment.
The voting members of the Commission shall vote on the request for reappointment prior to the expiration of the Administrative Law Judge's term, but no earlier than 60 days prior to such expiration. In case of conflict between this section and section 3705.17, section 3705.17 shall control.
In deciding whether to reappoint an Administrative Law Judge, the Commission shall consider all information it has received concerning the reappointment, and the voting members shall give significant weight to the recommendation of the Chief Administrative Law Judge, unless they determine that the recommendation is not founded on substantial evidence. The Commission shall reappoint the Administrative Law Judge if it finds that the Administrative Law Judge has satisfactorily performed the responsibilities of his or her office and is likely to continue to do so.
The Commission shall issue a written statement of reasons for every decision to reappoint or not to reappoint an Administrative Law Judge.
The Commission's decision on whether to reappoint the Administrative Law Judge shall be final, and a decision not to reappoint an Administrative Law Judge shall not be deemed to be disciplinary action.
Any decision by the Commission not to reappoint an Administrative Law Judge shall be reviewable only to the same extent as a decision of the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure giving an evaluation of "Unqualified."
An Administrative Law Judge who is reappointed pursuant to this section shall serve a term of ten years, beginning on the expiration date of his or her current term, or on the date he or she is notified in writing of the Commission's vote, whichever is later.
If the Commission does not vote on the reappointment of an Administrative Law Judge before the expiration of his or her current term, the Administrative Law Judge may, in the discretion of the Chief Administrative Law Judge, be retained as a non-judicial employee of the Office, without reduction in grade or step, until the Commission votes on his or her reappointment.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 6, r. 6-B3705