Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-164 Page: 4 of 7
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Honorable Gib Lewis - Page 4 (JM-164)
Article 6252-13a, V.T.C.S., [APTRA] provides in sections 13 and
19 for agency action and for judicial review, respectively of a "final
decision" or "order adverse to a party" in a "contested case."
Section 16 sets forth what constitutes a final decision or order, the
procedure for filing a motion for rehearing, and that such a motion is
a prerequisite to appeal. APTRA at section 3(2) declares that
contestedtd case' means a proceeding, including
but not restricted to ratemaking and licensing, in
which the legal rights, duties, or privileges of a
party are to be determined by an agency after an
opportunity for adjudicative hearing. (Emphasis
added).
Neither section applies if the proceeding does not constitute a
"contested case" as defined in section 3(2). A "final administrative
order" is one that leaves nothing open for future disposition; if a
right is made contingent upon the occurrence of some future event, the
order is not final. Railroad Commission v. Brazos River Gas Company,
594 S.W.2d 216, 218 (Tex. Civ. App. - Austin 1980, writ ref'd n.r.e.);
Railroad Commission v. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., 594 S.W.2d
219 (Tex. Civ. App. - Austin 1980, writ ref'd n.r.e.).
In Big D. Bamboo, Inc. v. State, 567 S.W.2d 915 (Tex. Civ. App. -
Beaumont 1978, no writ), the court held that a "contested case" within
the meaning of APTRA:
must be one in which the legal rights, duties, or
privileges are to be determined by an agency after
an opportunity for adjudicative hearing. The word
'adjudicate' is defined in Black's Law Dictionary
63 (4th rev. ed. 1968) as '[t]o settle in the
exercise of judicial authority. To determine
finally. Synonymous with adjudge in its strictest
sense. United States v. Irwin, 127 U.S. 125 .
and Street v. Benner, 20 Fla. 700.' Accordingly,
it appears to us that the hearing required by
LAPTRA] must be one in which the agency conducting
such hearing will, by a final and determinative
order, decide the legal rights, duties, or
privileges of the appellants, and in the absence
of an appeal therefrom will be a final and binding
decree with respect to any such legal rights,
duties, or privileges.
Id. at 918. This language indicates that the administrative
proceeding at issue here is not an "adjudicative hearing." This
hearing did not as a final matter determine the "rights, privilegesp. 722
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-164, text, June 13, 1984; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth272604/m1/4/?q=%221984~%22: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.