1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to state government; the office of 
  1.3             administrative hearings; authorizing the chief 
  1.4             administrative law judge to establish a system of 
  1.5             subject matter specialization for judges; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 14.48. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 14.48, is 
  1.9   amended to read: 
  1.10     14.48 [CREATION OF OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS; CHIEF 
  1.11  ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE APPOINTED; OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 
  1.12  JUDGES APPOINTED.] 
  1.13     Subdivision 1.  [CREATION.] A state office of 
  1.14  administrative hearings is created.  
  1.15     Subd. 2.  [CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE.] The office 
  1.16  shall be under the direction of a chief administrative law judge 
  1.17  who shall be learned in the law and appointed by the governor, 
  1.18  with the advice and consent of the senate, for a term ending on 
  1.19  June 30 of the sixth calendar year after appointment.  Senate 
  1.20  confirmation of the chief administrative law judge shall be as 
  1.21  provided by section 15.066.  The chief administrative law judge 
  1.22  may hear cases and shall appoint additional administrative law 
  1.23  judges and compensation judges to serve in the office as 
  1.24  necessary to fulfill the duties prescribed in chapters 14 and 
  1.25  176.  The chief administrative law judge may delegate to a 
  1.26  subordinate employee the exercise of a specified statutory power 
  2.1   or duty as deemed advisable, subject to the control of the chief 
  2.2   administrative law judge.  Every delegation must be by written 
  2.3   order filed with the secretary of state.  
  2.4      Subd. 3.  [ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES AND COMPENSATION 
  2.5   JUDGES.] (a) All administrative law judges and compensation 
  2.6   judges shall be in the classified service except that the chief 
  2.7   administrative law judge shall be in the unclassified service, 
  2.8   but may be removed only for cause.  
  2.9      (b) All administrative law and workers' compensation judges 
  2.10  shall have demonstrated knowledge of administrative procedures 
  2.11  and shall be free of any political or economic association that 
  2.12  would impair their ability to function officially in a fair and 
  2.13  objective manner.  All workers' compensation judges shall be 
  2.14  learned in the law, shall have demonstrated knowledge of 
  2.15  workers' compensation laws and shall be free of any political or 
  2.16  economic association that would impair their ability to function 
  2.17  officially in a fair and objective manner.  
  2.18     (c) The chief administrative law judge shall establish a 
  2.19  system of subject matter specialization for judges within the 
  2.20  office.  Specialties include, but are not limited to, workers' 
  2.21  compensation, mediation and settlement, rulemaking, special 
  2.22  education, local government, and administrative law.  The chief 
  2.23  administrative law judge shall also provide training and a 
  2.24  system for mentoring that will allow administrative law and 
  2.25  workers' compensation judges to qualify as subject matter 
  2.26  specialists in more than one area after completion of training 
  2.27  and mentoring, as required by the chief administrative law 
  2.28  judge.  Appointment as a compensation judge or as an 
  2.29  administrative law judge does not preclude either type of judge 
  2.30  from becoming a subject matter specialist in any area as long as 
  2.31  requirements established by the chief administrative law judge 
  2.32  for that category of specialist are met.  The chief 
  2.33  administrative law judge shall annually notify the department of 
  2.34  finance of the amount of credit payable to the workers' 
  2.35  compensation special fund for time spent by compensation judges 
  2.36  on noncompensation matters.