Rule 5.03 Scope of Appeals From Administrative Agencies

When you appeal a decision made by an administrative agency, the court does not start the case over from scratch. Instead, the court looks at what the agency already decided and checks it against a limited set of standards. This means the judge is not going to re-examine every detail or make a fresh decision based on new evidence.

The court will only look at four things. First, it checks whether the agency had enough solid evidence to back up its decision. Second, it looks at whether the agency acted unfairly or made a decision that does not make logical sense, sometimes called being arbitrary or capricious. Third, the court checks whether the agency even had the legal authority to make that decision in the first place. Fourth, it looks at whether the agency broke any laws or violated your constitutional rights when making the decision.

If none of these four problems apply to your case, the court will not overturn the agency's decision, even if you disagree with the outcome. This rule keeps appeals focused and prevents courts from simply redoing the agency's work. It means you need to show a specific legal problem with how the agency reached its decision, not just that you think the agency got it wrong.