republic-os/legal/us/code/title-07/chapter-98/section-6997.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, corpus, kind, title_number, title_name, chapter_number, chapter_name, section, citation, status, release_point, release_date, source, source_url, source_identifier, source_file, source_hash, raw_snapshot_hash, text_hash, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	corpus	kind	title_number	title_name	chapter_number	chapter_name	section	citation	status	release_point	release_date	source	source_url	source_identifier	source_file	source_hash	raw_snapshot_hash	text_hash	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
LegalText	7 U.S.C. § 6997	Division hearings	us	united_states_code	code_section	7	AGRICULTURE	98	DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE REORGANIZATION	6997	7 U.S.C. § 6997	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc07@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t7/s6997	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-07/usc07.xml	6f26eafaf79bda1433725861f1df4f8410eca183ce48a67dea6998c03e75a26d	50edab1679a711653797362c0aeb8f2273303fe473fb7fa16df1ee76bdd6e984	697e225227f51888adc5ddab4c6044d4ce5e4589c3f980f4986681a30c3db517	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

7 U.S.C. § 6997 - Division hearings

Text

(a) General powers of Director and hearing officers (1) Access to case record The Director and hearing officer shall have access to the case record of any adverse decision appealed to the Division for a hearing.

(2) Administrative procedures The Director and hearing officer shall have the authority to require the attendance of witnesses, and the production of evidence, by subpoena and to administer oaths and affirmations. Except to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law—

(A) an interested person outside the Division shall not make or knowingly cause to be made to the Director or a hearing officer who is or may reasonably be expected to be involved in the evidentiary hearing or review of an adverse decision, an ex parte communication (as defined in section 551(14) of title 5) relevant to the merits of the proceeding;

(B) the Director and such hearing officer shall not make or knowingly cause to be made to any interested person outside the Division an ex parte communication relevant to the merits of the proceeding.

(b) Time for hearing Upon a timely request for a hearing under section 6996(b) of this title, an appellant shall have the right to have a hearing by the Division on the adverse decision within 45 days after the date of the receipt of the request for the hearing.

(c) Location and elements of hearing (1) Location A hearing on an adverse decision shall be held in the State of residence of the appellant or at a location that is otherwise convenient to the appellant and the Division.

(2) Evidentiary hearing The evidentiary hearing before a hearing officer shall be in person, unless the appellant agrees to a hearing by telephone or by a review of the case record. The hearing officer shall not be bound by previous findings of fact by the agency in making a determination.

(3) Information at hearing The hearing officer shall consider information presented at the hearing without regard to whether the evidence was known to the agency officer, employee, or committee making the adverse decision at the time the adverse decision was made. The hearing officer shall leave the record open after the hearing for a reasonable period of time to allow the submission of information by the appellant or the agency after the hearing to the extent necessary to respond to new facts, information, arguments, or evidence presented or raised by the agency or appellant.

(4) Burden of proof The appellant shall bear the burden of proving that the adverse decision of the agency was erroneous.

(d) Determination notice The hearing officer shall issue a notice of the determination on the appeal not later than 30 days after a hearing or after receipt of the request of the appellant to waive a hearing, except that the Director may establish an earlier or later deadline. If the determination is not appealed to the Director for review under section 6998 of this title, the notice provided by the hearing officer shall be considered to be a notice of an administratively final determination.

(e) Effective date The final determination shall be effective as of the date of filing of an application, the date of the transaction or event in question, or the date of the original adverse decision, whichever is applicable.

(Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 277, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3230.)