A. Within forty-five days after the appointment of the hearing officer:
(1) the hearing officer shall prepare a report upon the matters submitted to him by the order of his appointment and shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law. He shall file the report with the clerk of the court and unless waived by the parties he shall file with it a transcript or other authorized recording of any proceedings and of the evidence and the original exhibits. The clerk shall mail notice of the filing to all parties; and
(2) the district court shall accept the hearing officer's findings of fact unless clearly erroneous. Within ten days after being served with notice of the filing of the report, either party may appeal the decision of the hearing officer to the district court. The court, after review, may adopt or modify the report.
B. If the appealing party does not prevail in his appeal, the court shall award the other party reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs incurred on appeal.
C. If an appeal is not filed within ten days of the parties being served with notice of the filing of the report or at the conclusion of any appeal, the district court shall enter a final judgment granting or modifying the easement sought to be acquired including the terms and compensation of the easement.
History: Laws 1988, ch. 26, § 6.
Cross references. — For procedures governing administrative appeals to the district court, see Rule 1-074 NMRA.
Standard of review. — Where a party maintained that the hearing officer made findings incorrectly under 70-3A-5(B) and (C) NMSA 1978, the determination of whether the hearing officer's decision was in accordance with the Gathering Line Land Acquisition Act was a question of law to be decided by the appellate court de novo. El Paso Field Servs. Co. v. Montoya Sheep & Cattle Co., 2003-NMCA-113, 134 N.M. 375, 77 P.3d 279.
Scope of review of district court. Zamora v. Village of Ruidoso Downs, 1995-NMSC-072, 120 N.M. 778, 907 P.2d 182.
Copyright ©2024 LegalFix. All rights reserved. LegalFix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not provide legal advice, services, or representation. The information on this website is an overview of the legal plans you can purchase—or that may be provided by your employer as an employee benefit or by your credit union or other membership group as a membership benefit.
LegalFix provides its members with easy access to affordable legal services through a network of independent law firms. LegalFix, its corporate entity, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors do not provide legal advice, services, or representation—directly or indirectly.
The articles and information on the site are not legal advice and should not be relied upon—they are for information purposes only. You should become a LegalFix member to get legal services from one of our network law firms.
You should not disclose confidential or potentially incriminating information to LegalFix—you should only communicate such information to your network law firm.
The benefits and legal services described in the LegalFix legal plans are not always available in all states or with all plans. See the legal plan Benefit Overview and the more comprehensive legal plan contract during checkout for coverage details in your state.
Use of this website, the purchase of legal plans, and access to the LegalFix networks of law firms are subject to the LegalFix Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.