ORDERS:
ORDER OF DISMISSAL
On September 26, 2000, I issued an Order requiring all parties to file Prehearing Statements within fifteen (15) days of the date of that
Order. The Prehearing Statements were due on October 11, 2000. The Petitioners filed their Prehearing Statement on October 31,
2000. However, the South Carolina Department of Social Services (Department) has failed to file a Prehearing Statement. After the
parties failed to comply with the time period imposed in the Prehearing Statement Order, my office sent the parties a letter on October
16, 2000, further requesting compliance with that Order. The letter required that a Prehearing Statement be filed no later than
October 26, 2000. That letter was sent via certified U.S. mail. The signed return receipt (PS Form 3811) was received by this office
on October 17, 2000, evidencing that the Department received the letter.
Administrative Law Judge Division Rule 23 provides:
The administrative law judge may dismiss a contested case or dispose of a contested case adverse to the defaulting party. A default
occurs when a party fails to plead or otherwise prosecute or defend, fails to appear at a hearing without the proper consent of the
judge or fails to comply with any interlocutory order of the administrative law judge.
(Emphasis added). As of the date of this Order of Dismissal, the Department has failed to submit a Prehearing Statement.
Furthermore, this office has not received any returned correspondence or verbal communication concerning its failure to comply with
the time period imposed in both the Prehearing Statements Order and the October 16 letter. Moreover, this office called the
Department's counsel via telephone on November 1, 2000 to determine why the Department continued not to comply with the
Prehearing Statement Order. Though the Department's counsel was not available, this office requested that he call this office
concerning this case. However, the Department's counsel did not return our call. "There is a limit beyond which the court should not
allow a litigant to consume the time of the court . . . ." Georgian Apparel, Inc. v. Todd, 303 S.C. 87, 92, 399 S.E. 2d 16, 19 (Ct. App.
1990). Therefore, since the Department has failed to submit a Prehearing Statement as ordered by this Court, I find that it is in default
and that this case must be dismissed pursuant to ALJD Rule 23.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that this matter is hereby dismissed and the Petitioners
shall be granted the relief they request.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
______________________________
Ralph King Anderson, III
Administrative Law Judge
November 6, 2000
Columbia, South Carolina |