Rule 2 Commencement of Appeal

(a) Petition. An appeal from an agency final order or decision in a contested case is commenced by filing a petition for judicial review in the office of the clerk of the Superior Court. Only issues set forth in the petition or fairly comprised therein will be considered by the trial court on review.

(b) Time for Petition:

(1) A petition shall be filed from an agency decision or final order in a contested case within thirty days of the entry of that order as provided in 1 CMC § 9112 (b), unless otherwise specified by statute.

(2) Upon filing of the petition, the clerk shall set a case management conference before the trial court at least 60 days, but no more than 90 days, from the filing date of the petition.

(c) Form of Petition. The petition shall state the following in the order indicated:

(1) Case title as it was before the agency to the extent possible. The title shall include the names of the agency and the parties to the proceeding regardless of whether the title of the agency proceeding included the names of the parties, and the administrative case number, if any.

(2) The type of proceeding and nature of the ruling by the agency.

(3) A concise statement of the facts of the case and the facts showing why the petitioner is a person or entity aggrieved by the decision.

(4) The grounds upon which the petitioner claims that the decision should be reversed or modified.

(d) Agency Determination. The petition shall be accompanied by a copy of the decision, order, rule or ruling from which judicial review is sought.

(e) Docketing Statement. The petition shall be accompanied by a completed docketing statement in the form contained at Appendix A to these rules.

(f) Service of Petition. The petitioner shall serve a copy of the petition and the docketing statement upon the agency, the Office of the Attorney General, and all other parties and counsel of record who participated in the proceeding before the agency either by personal service or by service in accordance with the Commonwealth Rules for Electronic Filing and Services. If the petitioner serves the agency and parties by personal service, aside from specific deadlines herein, the service guidelines set forth in the Commonwealth Rules of Civil Procedure govern the procedure by which service shall be made and any remedial measure that may be sought. Regardless of any rule to the contrary, the certificate of service shall show proof of service on the agency whose final decision, order, rule or ruling is involved, unless the agency is the petitioner, even if the agency is not a party. No summons shall be issued or served in connection with the petition and docketing statement. Service upon a prosecuting attorney or the Office of the Attorney General alone is not a substitute for service upon the agency. Service must be made no later than twenty days after filing the petition.

(g) Motions. All motions are governed by the Commonwealth Rules of Civil Procedure except where the rules contained herein conflict or state otherwise, in which case these rules govern.

(1) Motion to Dismiss. Within twenty days from the date of service of a petition on a person or entity, a party may file a motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust administrative remedies or any other alleged jurisdictional defect. If the matter is dismissed, the trial court shall grant petitioner ten days within which to amend the petition. If petitioner fails to do so within the time allotted, the matter shall be dismissed with prejudice. However, if the trial court specifically finds that an amendment cannot cure the jurisdictional defect, the matter may be immediately dismissed with prejudice.

(2) Other Motions. Other motions may be considered on a case by case basis, except that motions for summary judgment may not be filed.

(3) Hearing on the Motion. Oral arguments will be heard on motions unless the court determines that it is unnecessary because the facts and legal issues are adequately presented in the briefs and the decisional process would not be significantly aided by oral argument.

(h) Service and Notice after Initial Petition. All filings related to the review proceedings made after the petition is filed need only be made on the petitioner and other named parties to the judicial review.

(i) Appeal Bond. No appeal bond shall be required to effectuate an appeal of an agency decision or final order in a contested case.