SOAH - State Offices of Administrative Hearings

[zeppelin73]

Does anyone here have any experience with the WPC building in downtown Austin, also known as the William P. Clements building where SOAH holds hearings?

I'd like to know if this would be considered off limits like a traditional criminal court house.

[srothstein]

I think this is a really gray area of the law and I cannot say if it is a court or not. The presiding officer is an administrative law judge, but they are not listed as magistrates under the Code of Criminal Procedure (which makes sense if they are just administrative and have nothing to do with criminal). The law governing the SOAH is not part of the Government Code sections for court administration. But the rules say the hearings are recorded by a court reporter. The law refers to hearings and presiding officers and does not use the word court anywhere (except for the court reporter), but I cannot find a definition anywhere of a court either.

Overall, I cannot say either way, so I would urge caution. I would recommend not carrying in their hearing rooms until someone gets a better answer than I can give you. On this one, I strongly hope Charles will chime in and give us a better answer. You certainly have me curious now.