Kan. Admin. Regs. § 129-7-21

Current through Register Vol. 44, No. 2, January 9, 2025

Section 129-7-21 - Presiding officer; decisions

(a) The presiding officer shall conduct a state fair hearing requested by an appellant concerning an action, as defined in 129-7-1, taken against the appellant by a respondent.

(b) The presiding officer shall weigh the evidence and determine the facts and conclusions of law pertinent to the state fair hearing.

(c) The presiding officer shall determine the facts and conclusions of law based on supporting and detracting testimony, documents, statutes, regulations, the state plan and its amendments, and policies allowed into the record of the state fair hearing by the presiding officer.

(d) The presiding officer shall control the state fair hearing. Unless preempted by federal or state law, the presiding officer conducting a state fair hearing under this article of the division's regulations shall use KAPA and may use Kansas civil procedure in the state fair hearing as needed.

(e) The presiding officer shall determine whether the action made by the respondent is due to a correct interpretation of the applicable statute, regulation, or policy.

(f) The presiding officer shall determine the basis for the state fair hearing. If the presiding officer determines the state fair hearing in favor of the appellant, the remedy ordered by the presiding officer shall be limited to orders that are within the lawful authority of the secretary to execute.

(1) If the basis for the appellant's state fair hearing request is a belief that the department has failed to determine eligibility in a timely manner and the presiding officer determines that the secretary has not determined eligibility in a timely manner, the presiding officer shall direct the secretary to determine eligibility within a specified period of time as the remedy. The presiding officer may determine whether to keep the current state fair hearing case open pending the completion of the eligibility process or may dismiss the case.

(2) If the presiding officer determines that the eligibility action challenged by the appellant required sequential decisions by the secretary or by two or more of the secretary's designees before eligibility could be correctly determined and that the sequential eligibility process had not been completed, the presiding officer may return the matter to the department that last took action. The presiding officer may direct the department to complete the sequential eligibility process, including forwarding the eligibility matter to the next secretary's designee in sequence, as the remedy. The presiding officer may determine whether to keep the current state fair hearing case open pending the completion of the eligibility process or to dismiss the case.

(3) If the presiding officer determines the state fair hearing in favor of the respondent, the action of the respondent shall be affirmed.

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 129-7-21

Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 65-1,254 and 75-7403; adopted by Kansas Register Volume 43, No. 50; effective 12/27/2024.