Section 15670 - Office established(a) There shall be established in state government the Office of Tax Appeals.(b)(1) The office is under the control of a director. The Governor shall appoint the director, chief deputy director, and chief counsel of the office. The appointment of the director is subject to confirmation by the Senate.(2) The director shall administer and direct the day-to-day operations of the office, including, but not limited to, ensuring that each hearing office is sufficiently staffed and that appeals hearings are heard and resolved in a timely and efficient manner. The director shall not direct, oversee, supervise, or be otherwise involved in the decisionmaking process of the tax appeals panels.(c) Within the office, there shall be tax appeals panels. Each tax appeals panel shall consist of three members designated by the director of the office. Each member shall be a person who satisfies all of the following criteria:(1) The person agrees to adhere to the ethics standards adopted by the office pursuant to subdivision (d).(2) The person has knowledge and experience with regard to the administration and operation of the tax and fee laws of the United States and California.(3) Either of the following is true:(A) The person maintained an active membership in the State Bar of California for at least five years immediately preceding designation to a tax appeals panel and meets the qualifications for a state employee classification as an administrative law judge.(B) The person is employed under either of the following state employee classifications: (i) The Business Taxes Specialist, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration series.(ii) The Program Specialist, Franchise Tax Board series.(d) The office shall adopt by rule, pursuant to Section 15679, ethics standards, including rules governing conflicts of interest and ex parte communication. The office shall, to the extent applicable, model the rules upon the Code of Judicial Ethics adopted by the Supreme Court pursuant to subdivision (m) of Section 18 of Article VI of the California Constitution.(e) The hiring of members for tax appeals panels shall be conducted by the office in compliance with state civil service requirements.(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the changes made to this section by the act adding this subdivision authorizing the office to hire specified tax specialists to serve as members of tax appeals panels shall be implemented by the office in a manner that will not directly cause a reduction in the number of administrative law judges currently employed by the office.Amended by Stats 2022 ch 48 (SB 189),s 43, eff. 6/30/2022.Amended by Stats 2017 ch 252 (AB 131),s 8, eff. 9/16/2017.Added by Stats 2017 ch 16 (AB 102),s 13, eff. 6/27/2017.