June 2015 Archives

Administrative

Record Required for Review of Contested Case
Procedure before agency required a hearing with some degree of formality, so it was a contested case. Judicial review only rarely includes the admission of more evidence. "In the absence of [a] circuit court's determin[ation] that the [administrative] record [i]s incomplete, it should not . . . [even] schedule[] a hearing." On appeal of circuit court judgment to Court of Appeals, party aggrieved by agency decision is the appellant, just as it was in circuit court, because Court of Appeals reviews agency decision just like circuit court, and seldom addresses circuit court error. "Thus, we find ourselves now facing an appeal of the wrong decision (the circuit court's judgment) by the wrong party (the party that prevailed before the agency), and we have only a sparse and incomplete record for purposes of reviewing the [agency]'s decision, with no real challenge made to that decision." Remanded to circuit court to either review agency decision on the record or remand to agency for the making of a record.
Larry Johnston and Gloria Gay Johnston vs. Livingston County Commission
(Overview Summary)
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District - WD78197