Administrative Hearing Request Packet - Kansas

ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING REQUEST PACKET — KANSAS

Hearing-Request Worksheet, Drafting Form, and Procedure Guide

1. READ THIS BEFORE FILING

The Kansas Administrative Procedure Act (KAPA) supplies procedures when another statute provides for a hearing under KAPA. K.S.A. 77-513 does not create a universal right to a hearing, a universal filing deadline, or a universal filing method.

Before using this packet, identify the agency-specific authority and the appeal instructions delivered with the agency action. Those materials control:

☐ Whether a hearing is available

☐ Who must request or transmit the hearing

☐ The filing deadline and event that starts it

☐ The required form, recipient, and filing method

☐ Whether KAPA applies or another procedure governs

☐ Whether the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), an agency head, a board, or another presiding officer will hear the matter

The current OAH guidance likewise directs users to the appeal information received from the state agency to determine who submits the request and how long the requester has to submit it. This packet is a drafting aid and is not a substitute for a required agency or OAH form.

2. INTAKE AND DEADLINE WORKSHEET

Requester

Agency Action

Hearing Authority and Filing Gate

License Orders

K.S.A. 77-512 generally bars a state agency from revoking, suspending, modifying, annulling, withdrawing, refusing to renew, or amending a license without notice and an opportunity for a hearing under KAPA. The statute preserves emergency or immediate action under other authority and does not itself cover every initial license denial.

Processing Times After a Proper Request

When a statute provides for a hearing under KAPA and no inconsistent statute controls, K.S.A. 77-511(b) directs the agency to acknowledge a hearing request within 30 days and, when practicable, commence a formal or conference hearing within 90 days. Under subsection (c), a hearing commences when the agency or presiding officer notifies a party that a prehearing conference or another hearing stage will be conducted.

3. COVER LETTER

[__/__/____]

[________________________________]

[Agency/OAH recipient specified in appeal instructions]

[________________________________]

Re: Request for Administrative Hearing

Requester: [________________________________]

Agency reference number: [________________________________]

Agency action dated: [__/__/____]

Dear [________________________________]:

Pursuant to [agency-specific hearing statute or regulation] and, if applicable, K.S.A. 77-513 through 77-532, [Requester] timely requests an administrative hearing concerning the attached [notice/order/decision] issued by [Agency] on [__/__/____].

The request is timely because [identify the deadline, triggering event, service date, and calculation]:

[____________________________________________________________]

The principal issues are:

1. [____________________________________________________________]
2. [____________________________________________________________]
3. [____________________________________________________________]

The requester seeks only relief within the agency's legal authority, including:

[____________________________________________________________]

Enclosures:

☐ Required agency or OAH hearing-request form

☐ Copy of challenged notice, order, or decision

☐ Detailed statement of issues

☐ Documents required by the appeal instructions

☐ Proof or certificate of service, if required

Respectfully submitted,

________________________________________

[Name]

[Title / Kansas Bar No.]

[Address]

[Telephone]

[Email]

4. GENERAL HEARING-REQUEST DRAFT

Use this draft only if the agency's instructions permit a written request or as an attachment to the required official form.

REQUEST FOR ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING

Requester [________________________________] submits this request under [specific statute/regulation] and states:

1. Agency action. On [__/__/____], [Agency] issued [describe the action]. A complete copy is attached as Exhibit [____].

2. Hearing authority. [Citation] authorizes or requires a hearing concerning this action. [Explain whether KAPA applies.]

3. Timeliness. The action was served by [method] on [__/__/____]. The governing deadline is [____] days under [citation]. This request was filed on [__/__/____] with [recipient] by [authorized method].

4. Requester interest. Requester is affected because [________________________________].

5. Contested issues. Requester contests:

a. [____________________________________________________________]

b. [____________________________________________________________]

c. [____________________________________________________________]

6. Factual basis. [State material facts in numbered paragraphs and identify supporting exhibits.]

7. Legal basis. [Identify the agency-specific standard, statute, regulation, policy, or procedural requirement allegedly misapplied.]

8. Relief requested. Requester asks the authorized decision-maker to [affirm/reverse/modify/remand/issue other relief expressly authorized by law].

9. Accommodation or interpreter. ☐ None requested ☐ Requested as follows: [________________________________]

10. Hearing format. ☐ Telephone/video acceptable ☐ In-person requested for these reasons: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

________________________________________

[Requester / Attorney]

[Contact information]

Service or Filing Statement

I certify that on [__/__/____], I submitted this request to [required recipient] by [authorized method] and served the following persons as required by the controlling instructions or order:

[____________________________________________________________]

________________________________________

[Signature]

5. OAH ROLE, CONTACT, AND FORMS

K.S.A. 75-37,121 creates OAH within the Kansas Department of Administration. OAH provides presiding officers for KAPA adjudications identified by that statute and for other matters lawfully referred to it. OAH is not a universal first-instance filing office with power to hear every dispute involving a Kansas agency.

Current official contact information verified August 11, 2026:

The official OAH Forms page states that forms must be submitted through the corresponding submission page. Available forms include a General Request for Administrative Hearing and specialized DCF and Medicaid request forms. Use the form and route specified for the case; do not assume fax, email, mail, or direct OAH filing is authorized merely because contact information is published.

OAH states that, unless prohibited by law, it favors telephone or video conferences and hearings. A party may request an in-person evidentiary hearing; the governing law and ALJ control the result.

6. KAPA PROCEDURE AFTER THE REQUEST

A. Prehearing Conference — K.S.A. 77-516

The presiding officer may conduct a prehearing conference. If one is held, the officer sets its time and place and provides reasonable notice. A conference may address issues, schedule, hearing date, discovery, motions, settlement, accommodations, and whether another authorized form of proceeding is appropriate.

Preparation checklist:

☐ Read the hearing notice and every scheduling order

☐ Prepare a concise statement of issues and requested relief

☐ Identify witnesses, exhibits, and discovery needed

☐ Calendar motion, disclosure, and hearing deadlines

☐ Be ready to address the agency-specific burden and standard of proof

B. Hearing Notice — K.S.A. 77-518

The presiding officer generally must give reasonable written notice at least 10 days before the hearing. The notice must identify the proceeding, time, place, nature, authority, jurisdiction, presiding officer, issues, and known matters asserted, and it must warn that failure to participate may result in default.

C. Default — K.S.A. 77-520

K.S.A. 77-520 governs default; it is not a subpoena statute. If a party fails to attend or participate, the presiding officer may serve a proposed default order. The affected party has seven days after service to file a written motion to vacate stating the grounds. Continue complying with scheduled obligations unless the officer orders otherwise.

D. Discovery and Subpoenas — K.S.A. 77-522

Discovery is permitted only to the extent allowed by the presiding officer or agreed to by the parties. Requests must be made in writing to the presiding officer, with a copy served on the person from whom discovery is sought.

The presiding officer may issue subpoenas, discovery orders, and protective orders under the rules of civil procedure. The officer may set the discovery and response periods. Service expense falls on the requesting party, and enforcement proceeds under the Kansas Judicial Review Act.

Possible tools, when authorized:

☐ Interrogatories

☐ Requests for production

☐ Requests for admission

☐ Depositions

☐ Witness or document subpoenas

E. Evidence — K.S.A. 77-524

The presiding officer need not follow technical evidence rules but must act reasonably and impartially and give parties a reasonable opportunity to be heard and present evidence. Privileges recognized by law apply. Evidence is not excluded solely because it is hearsay. The statute does not say that properly objected-to hearsay can never be the sole basis of a finding.

Testimony is under oath or affirmation. Written evidence and copies may be received as the statute permits. If the officer takes official notice, parties must receive notice of the specific material and an opportunity to contest and rebut it.

F. Ex Parte Communications — K.S.A. 77-525

K.S.A. 77-525 restricts communications with the presiding officer about a pending issue without notice and an opportunity for all parties to participate, subject to the statute's exceptions. Send substantive communications through the procedure ordered by the presiding officer and serve all parties.

G. Agency Record — K.S.A. 77-532

K.S.A. 77-532—not K.S.A. 77-525—defines the official record of a formal hearing. It includes notices, prehearing orders, pleadings, evidence, officially noticed matters, objections and rulings, proposed findings, the hearing record or transcript considered, orders, identified staff material, and permitted nonparty statements.

Preservation checklist:

☐ Make offers of proof for excluded evidence

☐ State objections and grounds on the record

☐ Ensure admitted exhibits are correctly identified

☐ Preserve all orders and service certificates

☐ Request corrections through the procedure authorized by the presiding officer

7. ORDERS, ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW, AND RECONSIDERATION

A. Initial or Final Order — K.S.A. 77-526

The presiding officer issues a final order if the officer is the agency head or has been designated to issue one; otherwise, the officer generally issues an initial order subject to K.S.A. 77-527 review.

An order must separately state findings of fact, conclusions of law, applicable policy reasons, the remedy, available review procedures, and deadlines. Findings must rest on the record and officially noticed matters. The written order generally must be served within 30 days after the hearing concludes or proposed findings are submitted, unless the period is validly waived or extended.

B. Review of Initial Order — K.S.A. 77-527

A petition for review of an initial order must generally be filed with the agency head or designated recipient within 15 days after service. The petition must state its basis. The order and agency-specific law may limit review or provide a different route, so use the recipient and instructions stated in the order.

C. Reconsideration — K.S.A. 77-529

A party may generally petition the agency head for reconsideration within 15 days after service of a final order. Reconsideration is usually not a prerequisite to judicial review; K.S.A. 77-529 and 77-612 identify exceptions when another statute makes it mandatory.

D. Stay of an Initial or Final Order — K.S.A. 77-528

Until a judicial-review petition would no longer be timely, a party may ask the presiding officer or agency head to stay the effectiveness of an initial or final order, unless another statute or the order provides otherwise.

K.S.A. 77-528 does not create a universal pre-hearing stay and does not state a four-factor likelihood/irreparable-harm/public-interest test. Identify any agency-specific stay authority and standard before filing a stay request.

8. JUDICIAL REVIEW CHECKLIST

Judicial review is a separate court proceeding under the Kansas Judicial Review Act. Do not paste judicial-review allegations into the hearing request without connecting them to the agency's power and the issues the agency must decide.

A. Exhaustion — K.S.A. 77-612

☐ Final or otherwise reviewable agency action identified

☐ All required administrative review exhausted

☐ Reconsideration treated as optional unless a statute makes it mandatory

☐ Any claimed exhaustion exception researched before filing

B. Filing Time — K.S.A. 77-613

If reconsideration is not requested and is not required, a petition for judicial review of a final order generally must be filed within 30 days after service. When timely reconsideration is requested or required, subsection (c) supplies the replacement trigger.

K.S.A. 77-613(e) states that service by mail is complete on mailing and adds three days when a prescribed period runs after service by mail or authorized electronic means. Another statute may control, and judicial-review deadlines demand strict, case-specific calculation.

C. Venue — K.S.A. 77-609

Except where another listed statute or law provides otherwise, venue is in the county where the order or agency action is entered or effective, or where the challenged rule is promulgated. The former packet's generic “petitioner's county or Shawnee County” rule was incorrect.

D. Judicial-Review Burden and Grounds — K.S.A. 77-621

K.S.A. 77-621 places the burden of proving invalidity on the party asserting it in judicial review. The court may grant relief for the grounds listed in subsection (c), including unconstitutional action, action beyond jurisdiction, failure to decide a required issue, legal error, unlawful procedure, improper decision-maker composition, lack of substantial supporting evidence under the statutory record standard, or unreasonable/arbitrary/capricious action.

OAH's current public guidance notes that KAPA itself does not specify a single hearing burden and that the burden may vary by case. The ALJ and agency-specific law should be consulted before assuming who carries the burden at the evidentiary hearing.

9. FINAL FILING AND HEARING CHECKLIST

Request Stage

☐ Current agency notice and appeal instructions reviewed

☐ Hearing right, deadline, recipient, form, and filing method verified

☐ Correct official form used

☐ Challenged action attached

☐ Timeliness calculation stated and independently checked

☐ Proof of filing and any required service retained

Prehearing and Hearing

☐ Hearing and prehearing notices calendared

☐ Discovery obtained only as allowed or agreed

☐ Witness and exhibit deadlines satisfied

☐ Objections, offers of proof, and rulings preserved in the record

☐ Ex parte communications avoided

☐ Default-vacatur seven-day period calendared if a proposed default is served

After the Order

☐ Determine whether order is initial or final

☐ Calendar 15-day initial-order review period, if applicable

☐ Calendar 15-day reconsideration period, if relevant

☐ Calendar K.S.A. 77-613 judicial-review deadline from the correct service event

☐ Confirm venue under K.S.A. 77-609 and any special statute

☐ Analyze stay authority under K.S.A. 77-528 or agency-specific law

10. OFFICIAL SOURCES

• K.S.A. 77-501 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0001.html
• K.S.A. 77-511 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0011.html
• K.S.A. 77-512 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0012.html
• K.S.A. 77-513 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0013.html
• K.S.A. 77-516 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0016.html
• K.S.A. 77-518 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0018.html
• K.S.A. 77-520 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0020.html
• K.S.A. 77-522 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0022.html
• K.S.A. 77-524 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0024.html
• K.S.A. 77-525 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0025.html
• K.S.A. 77-526 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0026.html
• K.S.A. 77-527 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0027.html
• K.S.A. 77-528 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0028.html
• K.S.A. 77-529 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0029.html
• K.S.A. 77-532 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_005_0032.html
• K.S.A. 77-601 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_006_0001.html
• K.S.A. 77-609 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_006_0009.html
• K.S.A. 77-612 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_006_0012.html
• K.S.A. 77-613 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_006_0013.html
• K.S.A. 77-621 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch77/077_006_0021.html
• K.S.A. 75-37,121 — https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch75/075_037_0121.html
• OAH Administrative Hearing Process — https://oah.ks.gov/pages/administrative-hearing-process
• OAH Forms — https://oah.ks.gov/pages/forms
• OAH Contact — https://oah.ks.gov/pages/contact-us

This packet is informational only. The agency-specific hearing statute, notice, form, order, and applicable regulations must be checked before filing.