2-14-010   Department of Administrative Hearings - Establishment and composition.

There is hereby established an office of the municipal government to be known as the Department of Administrative Hearings which shall be authorized to conduct administrative adjudication proceedings for departments and agencies of the city.

The Department shall be administered by a director, who shall be appointed by the mayor, subject to approval by the City Council, and staffed by administrative law officers and other employees as may be provided for in the annual appropriation ordinance.

The provisions of Division 2.1 of Article 1 of the Illinois Municipal Code are hereby adopted and incorporated into this chapter as if fully set forth herein.

2-14-030    Director - Powers and duties.

The powers and duties of the director of the Department of Administrative Hearings shall include:

• directing the Department with respect to its management and structure, including the creation or reorganization of hearing divisions within the Department;
  
  
• appointing and removing administrative law officers, as necessary;
  
  
• promulgating rules and regulations for the conduct of administrative adjudication proceedings;
  
  
• monitoring and supervising the work of administrative law officers and, upon receipt of a timely petition for review authorized by the code, reviewing, modifying or reversing their decisions;
  
  
• establishing a system for hearing of grievances brought by tenants of the Chicago Housing Authority against the Authority and/or its property managers, all in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Housing Authority; and
  
  
• establishing any other necessary rules and regulations as may be required to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

2-14-040   Administrative law officers - Powers and duties.

Each administrative law officer appointed by the director shall be an attorney admitted to the practice of law in the state of Illinois for at least three years. Administrative law officers shall have all powers necessary to conduct fair and impartial hearings including, but not limited to, the power to:

• hold conferences for the settlement or simplification of the issues;
  
  
• administer oaths and affirmations;
  
  
• hear testimony;
  
  
• rule upon motions, objections, and the admissibility of evidence;
  
  
• subject to the restrictions contained in section 2-14-080, at the request of any party or on the administrative law officer's own motion, subpoena the attendance of relevant witnesses and the production of relevant books, records, or other information;
  
  
• preserve and authenticate the record of the hearing and all exhibits and evidence introduced at the hearing;
  
  
• regulate the course of the hearing in accordance with this chapter, the rules adopted by the Department for the conduct of administrative hearings, or other applicable law;
  
  
• discuss administrative adjudication proceedings with their supervisors;
  
  
• issue a final order which includes findings of fact and conclusions of law;
  
  
• impose penalties and fines and issue orders that are consistent with applicable code provisions and assess costs upon finding a party liable for the charged violation; provided, however, that in no event shall an administrative law officer have the authority to: (i) impose a penalty of imprisonment; or (ii) except in cases to enforce the collection of any tax imposed and collected by the city, in which this limitation shall not apply, impose a fine in excess of $50,000 exclusive of costs of enforcement or costs imposed to secure compliance with this code; and
• in any case in which a party has sought review by the Department of Administrative Hearings of an order or determination of another city department or agency, when such review is authorized by this code, assess costs upon affirming the order or determination.

2-14-050   Administrative law officers - Training requirements.

Prior to conducting any administrative adjudication proceeding, an administrative law officer shall have successfully completed a formal training program, approved by the director, which includes the following:

• instruction on the rules of procedure of the administrative hearings which he or she will conduct;
  
  
• orientation to each subject area of the code violations which he or she will adjudicate;
  
  
• observation of administrative hearings; and
  
  
• participation in hypothetical cases, including ruling on evidence and issuing final orders.

2-14-060   Rules and regulations - Available for public inspection.

The rules and regulations promulgated for the conduct of administrative adjudication proceedings shall be published and kept on file in the office of the director where they shall be available to the public for inspection and copying during normal business hours.

2-14-065   General provisions.

The provisions of this article shall apply to administrative adjudication proceedings conducted by the Department of Administrative Hearings to the extent that they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this code which set forth specific procedures for the administrative adjudication of particular code provisions.

2-14-070   Instituting administrative adjudication proceedings.

Any authorized department or agency of the city may institute an administrative adjudication proceeding with the Department of Administrative Hearings by forwarding a copy of a notice of violation or a notice of hearing, which has been properly served, to the Department of Administrative Hearings.