Petition for Reconsideration (Administrative Agency)

ALABAMA AAPA APPLICATION FOR REHEARING

Section 41-22-17 is narrow. It applies to a party to a contested case who
is aggrieved by a final order and seeks to have the order modified or set
aside. The application must be filed within 15 days after entry of the
order and must detail the grounds and authorities supporting relief.

Filing does not extend, suspend, modify, or delay the order's effective date.
Rehearing is not an exhaustion prerequisite under the Alabama AAPA because
§ 41-22-20(a) requires exhaustion of available administrative remedies
other than rehearing. Agency-specific law may differ.

CONTENTS

1. Applicability and Deadline Gate
2. Application for Rehearing
3. Ground-by-Ground Drafting Worksheet
4. Filing, Service, and Agency Action
5. Judicial-Review Handoff
6. Official Sources

1. APPLICABILITY AND DEADLINE GATE

A. AAPA coverage

Section 41-22-3 excludes specified entities and proceedings. Do not use this
form solely because the decision-maker is called a state board or commission.

B. Applicant and order

The § 41-22-17 deadline runs from entry, not receipt. Preserve both dates and
check whether agency-specific law changes the calculation.

C. Fifteen-day calculation

Do not assume a good-cause extension, mail extension, excusable-neglect route,
or electronic-filing permission. Identify current authority for each.

D. Final-order review under § 41-22-16

Confirm that the order:

☐ Is in writing and part of the record.

☐ Separately states findings of fact and conclusions of law.

☐ States underlying record facts rather than merely tracking statutory
language.

☐ Rules on submitted proposed findings, applications, or requests when the
statute requires.

☐ Was served in the manner required for a final order subject to judicial
review.

Order defect or clarification issue:

[____________________________________________________________]

2. APPLICATION FOR REHEARING

Use the agency's mandatory form when one exists.

Filing recipient: [________________________________]

Filing method: [________________________________]

Deadline: [__/__/____]

Before the [exact agency and division]

In the matter of: [________________________________]

Agency docket / order number: [________________________________]

APPLICATION FOR REHEARING UNDER ALA. CODE § 41-22-17

Applicant: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

Telephone and email: [________________________________]

Counsel and Alabama Bar number: [________________________________]

A. Party status and order

Applicant was a party to the contested case identified above and is aggrieved
by the final order entered on [__/__/____]. A complete copy is attached as
Exhibit A.

The order affects Applicant by:

[____________________________________________________________]

B. Timeliness

The order was entered on [__/__/____]. Under § 41-22-17(a), the 15-day period
expires on [__/__/____], calculated under [identify counting and filing rules].
This application is filed on [__/__/____] by [authorized method].

C. Relief requested

Applicant asks the Agency to:

☐ Modify the final order as follows: [________________________________].

☐ Set aside the final order.

☐ Grant a hearing on this application.

☐ Grant other relief authorized by [agency statute or rule]:
[________________________________].

Do not request a stay, fees, damages, discovery, or another remedy without
separate authority.

D. Detailed grounds and authorities

Ground 1 — [statutory ground]

Statutory ground under § 41-22-17(c): [________________________________]

Order finding, conclusion, or ruling challenged:

[____________________________________________________________]

Detailed argument:

[____________________________________________________________]

Authorities:

[____________________________________________________________]

Record citations and exhibits:

[____________________________________________________________]

Ground 2 — [statutory ground]

Statutory ground under § 41-22-17(c): [________________________________]

Order finding, conclusion, or ruling challenged:

[____________________________________________________________]

Detailed argument:

[____________________________________________________________]

Authorities:

[____________________________________________________________]

Record citations and exhibits:

[____________________________________________________________]

Ground 3 — [statutory ground]

[Repeat the same fields.]

E. Requested agency action

Applicant asks the Agency to act within the procedure in § 41-22-17(e) and
[agency rule], and to serve its order on all parties of record.

F. Signature

Signature: ________________________________________

Printed name and capacity: [________________________________]

Counsel and Alabama Bar number: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

G. Service

I certify that on [__/__/____], a copy was served on every party of record by
the methods authorized under [agency rule or order]:

Signature: ________________________________________

3. GROUND-BY-GROUND DRAFTING WORKSHEET

Section 41-22-17(c) permits rehearing only if the final order is:

1. in violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;
2. in excess of the agency's statutory authority;
3. in violation of an agency rule;
4. made upon unlawful procedure;
5. affected by other error of law;

6. clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, and substantial
   evidence on the whole record; or

7. unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious, or characterized by an abuse of
   discretion or a clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion.

Use the exact statutory route. Do not add "newly discovered evidence,"
"excessive penalty," or another free-standing ground unless it fits a statutory
ground and the agency's current law permits consideration.

Record discipline

☐ Cite the order by page and paragraph.

☐ Cite the hearing record, exhibit, transcript, motion, objection, proposed
finding, or officially noticed matter.

☐ Distinguish a request to correct record-based error from an attempt to add
material the agency may not consider.

☐ Explain prejudice and the effect on the disposition.

☐ Attach the exact constitutional, statutory, regulatory, or precedential
authority relied upon.

☐ Specify the modification or disposition requested.

4. FILING, SERVICE, AND AGENCY ACTION

A. Effect of filing

Section 41-22-17(b) says filing the application does not extend, modify,
suspend, or delay the final order's effective date. The order remains effective
unless and until relief is granted or it is superseded, modified, or set aside
as provided by law.

Separate stay authority and request, if any:

[____________________________________________________________]

B. Service and replies

Section 41-22-17(d) requires copies of the application to be served on all
parties of record. Those parties may file replies.

C. Agency action within 30 days

Within 30 days after filing, § 41-22-17(e) permits the Agency, in its
discretion, to:

• set a hearing on the application to be heard as soon as practicable;
• act on the application without a hearing; or
• grant or deny the application.

If the Agency enters no order whatsoever within that 30-day period, the
application is deemed denied at expiration.

Do not use a 35-day deemed-denied rule.

5. JUDICIAL-REVIEW HANDOFF

A. Exhaustion

Section 41-22-20(a) provides judicial review to a person who has exhausted
administrative remedies available within the agency other than rehearing and
is aggrieved by a final contested-case decision. A preliminary, procedural, or
intermediate action can be immediately reviewable only under the statute's
inadequate-remedy condition.

Identify every required agency remedy other than rehearing:

[____________________________________________________________]

B. Two-step filing structure

Subject to agency-specific law and the statute's exceptions, § 41-22-20(b) and
(d) require:

1. a notice of appeal or review and cost bond filed with the Agency, unless the
   bond is waived on substantial hardship; and

2. a petition for judicial review filed in the appropriate circuit court.

The notice deadline is 30 days after receipt of notice or other service of the
final decision or, if rehearing was requested, 30 days after receipt or service
of the Agency's rehearing decision. The circuit-court petition is filed within
30 days after the notice of appeal or review.

Do not collapse these filings into one 30-day circuit-court petition.

C. Stay

Filing the notice or petition does not itself stay enforcement. Section
41-22-20(c) contains distinct rules for license suspension or revocation and
for other agency decisions. Prepare any stay request from the exact statutory
category and agency-specific law.

D. Review-standard transition

As of August 15, 2026, the operative § 41-22-20(k) includes specified
presumption and non-substitution language plus seven enumerated grounds for
relief.

Act 2026-319, enacted as SB 167 and effective October 1, 2026, changes the
judicial-review standard by removing specified presumptions and
non-substitution language and adding agency-interpretation instructions. The
future Code version keeps the enumerated grounds in subsection (k) and places
the new interpretation language in subsection (l).

Apply the version operative on the review date.

6. OFFICIAL SOURCES

• Ala. Code § 41-22-3:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=41-22-3

• Ala. Code § 41-22-16:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=41-22-16

• Ala. Code § 41-22-17:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=41-22-17

• Ala. Code § 41-22-20:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=41-22-20

• Official Alabama Legislature record for SB 167 / Act 2026-319:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/bill-search

This application is informational only and requires review and customization
by a qualified Alabama attorney and confirmation of the agency-specific
procedure.