James v. New Mexico Human Services Dept., Income Support Div., 9984
| Decision Date | 30 July 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 9984,9984 |
| Citation | 106 N.M. 318,1987 NMCA 105,742 P.2d 530 |
| Parties | Heidi Noel JAMES, Appellant, v. NEW MEXICO HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT, INCOME SUPPORT DIVISION, Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of New Mexico |
Appellant appeals the fair hearing decision of the Human Services Department (HSD) denying her benefits. The fair hearing decision notice was dated April 28, 1987, and was received by appellant's representative on April 29, 1987. The notice of appeal was filed in this court on May 29, 1987. HSD moved to dismiss the appeal because the notice of appeal was not timely filed. We agree and dismiss the appeal.
The issue here requires resolution of a conflict between a rule and a statute. SCRA 1986, 12-601(A) provides that:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, direct appeals from orders, decisions or actions of boards, commissions, administrative agencies or officials shall be taken by filing a notice of appeal * * * within thirty (30) days from the date of the order, decision or action appealed from.
On the other hand, NMSA 1978, Section 27-3-4(A) (Repl.Pamp.1984) provides that an appeal may be taken within thirty (30) days of "receiving written notice of the decision." We note that the prior rule did not conflict with the statute. See NMSA 1978, Civ.App.R. 13 (Repl.Pamp.1984).
Appellant contends that the statute governs, relying on In re Application of Angel Fire Corp., 96 N.M. 651, 634 P.2d 202 (1981). There, the supreme court ruled that where a statute established the administrative procedure for taking a case out of the administrative framework and into court, the statutorily required administrative procedures must be fully complied with. "The courts have no authority to alter the statutory scheme, cumbersome as it may be." Id. at 652, 634 P.2d at 203.
We are unpersuaded by appellant's argument because the statutory provision at issue here is distinguishable from the language upon which appellant relies. The supreme court held that the statutory provisions governing appealable orders and service of the notice of appeal were jurisdictional. In Angel Fire, the statute set forth orders and decisions allowed to be appealed, and the manner of transferring jurisdiction from the administrative to the judiciary. In In re Application No. 0436-A, 101 N.M. 579, 686 P.2d 269 (Ct.App.1984), this court distinguished these statutory provisions from one requiring proof of service within a particular time, holding that the latter requirement was not one to which Angel Fire 's language of mandatory compliance was applicable.
As with In re Application No. 0436-A, this case deals with a time limitation on the right to appeal rather than a method of appealing. Our courts have long held that such time limits are peculiarly within the power of the judiciary to set. See American Auto. Ass'n v. State Corp. Comm'n, 102 N.M. 527, 697 P.2d 946 (1985); State v. Arnold, 51 N.M. 311, 183 P.2d 845 (1947). Moreover, we have no authority to set aside a recently enacted supreme court rule. See Alexander v. Delgado, 84 N.M. 717, 507 P.2d 778 (1973).
The requirement that the time for appeal runs from the date of decision is eminently reasonable. For example, it is virtually impossible to calculate appeal time when it runs from receipt of the decision rather than the date of the decision itself. Also, it is beneficial in the management of its caseload for the appellate court to know when the time for appeal commences to run, without litigation over when an applicant for public assistance received notice of the fair hearing decision. Cf. State v. Brionez, 90 N.M. 566, 566 P.2d 115 (Ct.App.1977) (). We view the requirement for calculating when the time for appeals runs as a requirement that is within the power of the judiciary to set.
When Angel Fire was decided, the relevant appellate rule for administrative appeals governed "[e]xcept as may be otherwise provided by law." See Civ.App.R. 13. This case, as did American Auto. Ass'n, presents a direct conflict between supreme court rule and statutory provisions. Because the requirement in question lies within the supreme court's rule-making authority, and because it is now covered by supreme court rules, we apply the rule rather than the statute.
Alternatively, appellant contends that HSD should be estopped from denying that the effective date of its decision was April 29, since the decision informed appellant of her right to seek judicial review in this court "within thirty (30) days of receipt of this notice." She asserts that...
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