Contested Case Petition Filing Time

On May 8, 2020, Julian Mann, Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings, issued an order regarding the timeliness of contested case petition filings. Read the order below or here. There are other orders related to the COVID-19 emergency on the OAH website here.

State of North Carolina
Office of Administrative Hearings
1711 New Hope Church Rd
Raleigh, NC 27609

On March 19, 2020, The Honorable Cheri Beasley, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, issued an order pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-39(b)(1) stating that “catastrophic conditions resulting from the public health threat posed by COVID-19 exist in all counties of this state.” The Chief Justice’s Order of March 19, 2020, was set to expire at the close of business on April 17, 2020. On April 13, 2020, The Honorable Cheri Beasley, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, issued an order pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-39(b)(1) stating that “catastrophic conditions resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak have existed and continue to exist in all counties of this state.”  The Chief Justice’s Order of April 13, 2020, is set to expire at the close of business on June 1, 2020, with the caveat that “[a]dditional emergency orders or directives under N.C.G.S. § 7A-39(b) may be entered as necessary to support the continuing operation of essential court functions.”

The North Carolina General Assembly recently enacted SL 2020-3 which was signed into law on Saturday, May 2, 2020, by the Honorable Roy Cooper, Governor of the State of North Carolina. Section 4.26.(a) of SL 2020-3 authorizes the Chief Administrative Law Judge to extend the time or period of limitation established in N.C.G.S. § 150B-23(f) “whether established by another statute or this section, for the filing of a petition for a contested case” “[w]hen the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court determines and declares that catastrophic conditions exist or have existed in one or more counties of the State and issues an order pursuant to [N.C.]G.S. § 7A-39(b).”

By the authority granted to the Chief Administrative Law Judge under SL 2020-3, I order that the filing of a petition for a contested case, originating in any of North Carolina’s one hundred counties (or as may be otherwise authorized by law), shall be deemed to be timely filed if the petition is filed in the Office of Administrative Hearings between the effective date of my order as Chief Administrative Law Judge and the close of business on June 1, 2020, notwithstanding the expiration of the time limit for filing of a petition in a contested case as established in N.C.G.S. § 150B-23(f). My Order as the Chief Administrative Law Judge is effective from March 19, 2020, the date of the Chief Justice’s Order of March 19, 2020, and as extended by the Chief Justice’s Order of April 13, 2020, and shall expire on June 1, 2020, upon the same terms and conditions as the expiration of the Chief Justice’s April 13, 2020, Order.

This the 8th day of May, 2020.

Julian Mann III
Chief Administrative Law Judge