Rule 290-7-1-.19. Administrative Hearing Procedures

1. (1) Under these Rules, administrative hearings before the Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH) are available with regards to certain enforcement actions taken by or decisions made by the Department. The availability of an administrative hearing and the deadlines for seeking an administrative hearing are controlled by the specific rule addressing the action in question.
2. (2) If an administrative hearing is available and is timely requested in accordance with the applicable rule, the Department shall initiate an administrative hearing before OSAH by filing an OSAH 1 form.
3. (3) An administrative law judge (ALJ) shall be assigned by OSAH in accordance with OSAH rules or operating procedures.
4. (4) Any issue, procedure, process, or other matter related to administrative hearings that is not explicitly addressed in these Rules shall be controlled by the rules of OSAH.
5. (5) After an ALJ hears the evidence at a hearing, the ALJ shall issue an administrative decision. The decision shall be deemed entered when it is filed with the clerk of OSAH and shall be mailed to all parties immediately upon entry.
6. (6) If no party nor the Department seeks review of the decision, it becomes final 30 days after entry of the decision.

7. (7) If a party or the Department is aggrieved by an administrative decision and has exhausted his or her administrative remedies, the aggrieved party or the Department may file a petition for judicial review under O.C.G.A. § 50-13-19 in either the superior court of his or her county of residence or in the Superior Court of Fulton County, within 30 days of the entry of a decision by the ALJ.

   1. (a) A tax refund intercept appeal must be filed in the court that issued or registered the underlying child support order in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 19-11-18(e).
8. (8) A petition for judicial review must be served personally on the Commissioner or a person designated by the Commissioner to serve as agent for the acceptance of service of process in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 49-2-15, or service shall be deemed defective and the petition for judicial review may be subject to dismissal by the court.
9. (9) Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-13-19, judicial review shall be conducted by the court without a jury and shall be confined to the record made before the agency in accordance with the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act. The Commissioner or designee shall file the administrative record with the court within 30 days of the Commissioner being served with the petition for judicial review personally by second original as required by law. The court shall not substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact.
10. (10) Any appeal of the administrative decision shall be limited solely to the issue of child support and shall exclude issues of visitation, custody, property settlement or other similar matters otherwise joinable by the parties.
11. (11) Neither an ALJ nor a superior court may retroactively modify a child support order nor eliminate arrearages accrued under a valid child support order.

Authority: O.C.G.A. §§ 19-11-9.3(o), 19-11-24, 19-11-18, 50-13-40 through 50-13-44.

History. Original Rule entitled "Suspension or Denial of Licenses" adopted. F. Nov. 21, 1996; eff. Dec. 11, 1996.

Repealed: New Rule entitled "Administrative Hearing Procedures" adopted. F. June 15, 2011; eff. July 5, 2011.

Amended: F. Sep. 11, 2018; eff. Oct. 1, 2018.

Amended: F. Apr. 15, 2026; eff. May 5, 2026.