CopyCited 20 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 109 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2509, 1980 Fla. LEXIS 4101
...resentation in its proceedings which states: *414 Any party shall have the right to appear at any hearing in person, by counsel, or by other representative... . Fla. Admin. Code Rule 8H-4.13(a). This rule was adopted under the authority conferred by section 120.62(2), Florida Statutes (1975), of Florida's Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which provides: Any person compelled to appear, or who appears voluntarily, before any hearing officer or agency in an investigation or in any agency proceed...
...s." Section 120.58(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1975). In obvious recognition of the legal nature of the processes and their ramifications, the APA itself extends authority for party representation by non-lawyers only to "qualified" lay representatives. Section 120.62(2), Florida Statutes (1975)....
...conduct becomes, in effect, authorized representation. That, we find, is the situation here. PERC is unquestionably subject to the APA, and the APA has unquestionably *418 authorized representation before PERC by non-lawyers. Sections
120.52(1)(b),
120.62(2), Florida Statutes (1975)....
...romulgating a controlling rule has validly exercised delegated authority. Indeed, the APA itself provides the authority to challenge a rule or proposed rule as violative of this requirement. Sections
120.56(1),
120.54(3)(a), Florida Statutes (1975). Section
120.62(2), it must be remembered, authorizes agencies to permit "qualified" lay representatives to appear in agency proceedings....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hardee County,
184 So.2d 438 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1966); Quinn v. Housing Authority of Orlando,
385 So.2d 1167 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). The rule is otherwise, however, with respect to administrative proceedings before agencies subject to Chapter 120, Administrative Procedure Act. Section
120.62(2), Florida Statutes, provides: (2) Any person compelled to appear, or who appears voluntarily, before any hearing officer or agency in an investigation or in any agency proceeding has the right, at his own expense, to be accompanied, represented, and advised by counsel or by other qualified representatives....
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 30 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 588, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 18399, 2009 WL 4282920
...Todd Raven appeals a final order of the Manatee County School Board terminating his employment as a teacher. The central issue we decide in this appeal is whether Raven had a statutory right to be represented by counsel during an investigatory interview. The administrative law judge ("ALJ") concluded that section 120.62(2), Florida Statutes (2007), gave Raven a right to counsel at the investigatory interview. The School Board rejected the ALJ's interpretation of section 120.62(2) and substituted its conclusion that section 120.62(2) did not afford Raven a right to counsel. Because Raven refused to participate in the investigatory interview without counsel, the School Board terminated his employment. We agree with the ALJ's conclusion that section 120.62(2) gave Raven the right to be represented by counsel and, therefore, reverse the final order of the School Board....
...In his recommended order, the ALJ found that because Raven was "compelled to appear before the OPS investigator during the course of an official School Board investigation," he was entitled to be accompanied, represented, and advised by counsel at his own expense pursuant to section 120.62(2), which provides: Any person compelled to appear, or who appears voluntarily, before any presiding officer or agency in an investigation *129 or in any agency proceeding has the right, at his or her own expense, to be accompanied, represented, and advised by counsel or by other qualified representatives....
...The ALJ reasoned that by adopting policy 6.13, the School Board delegated all of its investigatory powers, including its power to conduct investigatory interviews, to the OPS investigator, Ms. Horne, and, therefore, Ms. Horne is the authorized representative of the School Board for purposes of section 120.62....
...te a violation of the charges alleged in the superintendent's charging letter, that Raven's suspension without pay should be reversed, and that Raven should be compensated for the period he was suspended without pay. [1] The School Board argues that section 120.62(2) provides a right to counsel only if the investigation is being conducted by a "presiding officer" or the "agency." In other words, if the School Board itself, sitting as a collegial body, conducts an investigation, the right to counsel applies. But, because Ms. Horne is neither a "presiding officer" nor the "agency," the right to counsel does not arise during her investigations. In its Final Order the School Board states: The ALJ attempts to circumvent the correct interpretation of section 120.62(2) Florida Statutes (2007), by interpreting School Board Policy 6.13 as a delegation by the School Board of "all of its investigatory powers, including its power to conduct investigatory interviews, to the OPS investigator." Based on t...
...to the OPS investigator, the School Board asserts that it has the authority to conduct its own investigations and, should it choose to do so, any person compelled to appear before the Board, as opposed to OPS, would be entitled to an attorney under section 120.62(2) because that person would be appearing before an "agency" in an investigation....
...allegations of teacher misconduct but instead has delegated all of its investigatory authority over these types of complaints to OPS. Thus, whether Ms. Horne is called an agent or representative or simply an employee is not determinative of whether section 120.62(2) applies to the investigatory interviews she conducts into allegations of teacher misconduct. What is determinative is whether her investigation constitutes an "agency in an investigation" as that phrase is used in section 120.62(2)....
...Horne was conducting the agency's investigation, the ALJ properly concluded that when Raven was directed to appear before Ms. Horne for an investigative interview he was being compelled to appear before an "agency in an investigation," as that phrase is used in section 120.62(2)....
