HomeMy WebLinkAboutCA-04 RECEIVED
JUN 2 4 2025
ONUNTY
BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER
o�ommi$aNERS
FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY, WASHINGTON EXHIBIT # 4
Marilyn Showalter&Jan Wold Case No.072525
(MSJW) (SDP2024-00006)
Appellants
vs Appeal of Jefferson County
Mitigated Determination of Non-
Significance(MDNS)(SEPA
Jefferson County, Appeal)
Respondent
APPELLANTS' MOTION for
Rock Island Oyster(Robert Carson), ADOPTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE
PRACTICES for THIS CASE
Respondent/Applicant
COME NOW Appellants,who move, under Jefferson County Hearing Examiner
Rules of Procedure(JCHERP)Rule 3.3, for adoption and order by the Hearing Examiner of
the following administrative practices for this matter.Appellants make these requests
because the lack of clear administrative practices and compliance with procedural rules in
other cases has resulted in prejudicial lack of access by Appellants and the public to public
documents and orders.
Parties of Record
1. The Department of Community Development(DCD)shall transfer forthwith to
the Office of the Hearing Examiner(OHE) its list of Parties of Record in this
matter.
2. OHE shall maintain a Register of Parties of Record pursuant to JCHERP 5.6(b)
and provide it on request pursuant to JCHERP Rule 2.3(c).
Appellants'Motion for Admin Practices Marilyn Showalter,360-259-1700
Page 1 marilyn.showalter@gmail.com
Distribution of Documents
3. Parties filing motions, briefs, or other documents with the Hearing Examiner
shall simultaneously, by email,distribute them to the principal parties.
4. OHE shall distribute, simultaneously by email to the principal parties,
JCC 2.30.030(19),all orders, decisions,and other communications from the
Hearing Examiner to the parties, within 24 hours of receiving them, preferably
on the same day as received.
Posting of Documents
5. OHE shall post online all documents to or from the Hearing Examiner(e.g.,
motions,briefs, evidentiary documents,County reports, orders)within 24 hours
of receiving them,preferably on the same day as received, in the order they are
received. Documents shall be stamped or otherwise labeled with the date
received and, if different from the date received,with the date posted. Posted
documents shall be numbered sequentially, e.g. "Item 1,2, 3 etc." In addition, as
approved by the Hearing Examiner,duplicates of these documents may be placed
in folders, e.g. "Exhibits,"and given additional labels, e.g., as"Exhibit C-1, 2, 3
etc. for County exhibits."
Stylistic Preferences
6. Appellants request instruction on any stylistic preferences of the Hearing
Examiner, where not dictated by law and rules, e.g., an appropriate case caption,
letter-form vs brief-form for submissions, line spacing, line numbering,
paragraph numbering, margins, font size, electronic signatures, brief combined
with (vs separate from) motions, proposed orders, pet peeves.
Appellants' Motion for Admin Practices Marilyn Showalter,360-259-1700
Page 2 marilyn.showalter@gmail.com
BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF MOTION
Prior to 2019, administrative responsibilities for hearing examiner proceedings rested
with DCD. In 2019,the Board of County Commissioners(BOCC)removed this function
from DCD and established the Office of the Hearing Examiner as a separate office under the
direction of the Hearing Examiner:
JCC 2.30.020 Office created.
The office of Jefferson County hearing examiner is hereby created. The
examiner's office shall be under the administrative supervision of the
examiner.The office shall be separate and distinct from any other county
officer or department. [Ord. 12-19 § 2 (Appx. A)]
The most important reason for this separation was to comply with appearance of fairness
and ex parte rules, so that DCD was not administering a quasi-judicial, "neutral"process in
which it was also an advocate-party.
However, it appears that the required separation was never fully implemented. DCD
retained control over various hearing-examiner functions,and OHE took instruction from
DCD on how to handle administrative matters. As a result, responsibilities were blurred or
sometimes"fell between the cracks."Although JCC 2.30 and the Hearing Examiner Rules
of Procedure provide substantial administrative guidance, they were often ignored in favor
of"doing things as they'd always been done." There are,today, still no well-understood
practices that also comply with rules and law.
The purpose of this Motion is to supply,for this case, a set of efficient and workable
practices that are both normal in other judicial and quasi-judicial settings and also comply
with rules and law. Other purposes are to avoid lost documents, make public documents
publicly and timely available, and avoid costly, cumbersome, and unnecessary processes
such as public records requests when timely posting could avoid them.
Appellants'Motion for Admin Practices Marilyn Showalter,360-259-1700
Page 3 marilyn.showalter@gmail.com
SUBMITTED this 24th day of June,2025,
I s!New*VowaEtac
Marilyn Showalter,Contact for Appellants,June 24,2025
DECLARATION OF SERVICE
The undersigned hereby declares under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State
of Washington, that on the 24th day of June 2025, she caused a true and correct copy of
the foregoing document to be served upon the following, via electronic mail as follows:
Carolyn Gallaway, carolvnna,co jefferson.wa.us
Donna Frostholm, dfrostholm@cojefferson.wa.us
Phil Hunsucker,phunsucker@cojefferson.wa.us
Jesse DeNike,jesse(aplauchecarr.com
Aimee Muul, aimeec plauchecarr.com
lsl Vacate Slsoufaetac 6-24-2025
Marilyn Showalter, Contact for Appellants
Appellants' Motion for Admin Practices Marilyn Showalter,360-259-1700
Page 4 marilyn.showalter@gmail.com