Role in Dispute Resolution
The State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) resolves disputes between Texas agencies, other governmental entities, and private citizens. The office allows for a non-judicial resolution of disputes by administrative law judges who are meant to act as neutral arbiters.
The statutory purpose of the office is to separate the adjudicative function from the investigative, prosecutorial, and policymaking functions in the executive branch in relation to hearings that the office is authorized to conduct.1
The stated objectives of the State Office of Administrative Hearings are:
- Conduct fair and objective administrative hearings.
- Provide fair, timely and efficient decisions and proposals for decision.
- Offer the opportunity for parties to resolve their disputes through mediation or alternative dispute resolution.
SOAH currently conducts hearings on behalf of approximately 60 state agencies, including the Public Utility Commission, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Department of Insurance, Employees Retirement System, Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Medical Board, Department of Agriculture, Commission on Law Enforcement, and several licensing agencies.
Structure and Leadership
SOAH is headed by a chief administrative law judge appointed by the governor.2 The agency employs about 120 staff at its Austin headquarters and eight field offices.3 It has dedicated teams for license revocations, alternative dispute resolution, tax cases, utilities cases, special education cases, and the agency’s Central Hearings Panel.
Types of Hearings
On average, the SOAH conducts approximately 30,000 hearings per year.4 These hearings are generally of two types: driver’s license hearings, also known as administrative license revocation hearings, referred from the Department of Public Safety; and general hearings, also known as contested case hearings, referred from other state agencies or governmental entities.
Agency History
The State Office of Administrative Hearings was created by the 72nd Legislature in 1991 and began operations in January 1992. The first agencies for which it conducted hearings were the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the Texas Department of Insurance.
The agency began hearing driver’s license hearings in 1995 and providing alternative dispute resolution services in 1997.
In 2003 the SOAH began hearing child support enforcement hearings for the Office of the Attorney General, and in 2007 it took over tax hearings that previously had been conducted by the Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Sources and Citations
- Texas Government Code § 2003.021 ↩︎
- Texas Government Code § 2003.022 ↩︎
- “Organization Chart,” State Office of Administrative Hearings ↩︎
- “History of SOAH,” State Office of Administrative Hearings. ↩︎
