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AGENCY TESTIMONY
OATH Commissioner Asim Rahman's testimony on agency operations and budget
1:55:46
ยท
4 min
Commissioner Asim Rahman of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) presents testimony on the agency's operations, achievements, and budget for the upcoming fiscal year. He emphasizes OATH's commitment to due process, fair hearings, and impartiality in handling a large volume of cases across various divisions.
- OATH processed nearly 660,000 summonses and held close to 250,000 hearings in calendar year 2024
- The agency's fiscal year 2026 preliminary budget is $77.2 million, with a headcount of 455 full-time staff
- Rahman stresses OATH's independence from other city agencies and its role in adjudicating cases without setting policy
Asim Rahman
1:55:46
My name is Asim Rahman.
1:55:47
I'm the chief administrative law judge and commissioner at Oath, the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
1:55:54
I'd like to start today by thanking Chair Ressler and the members of the Committee on Governmental Operations, State and Federal Legislation for the opportunity to testify today.
1:56:04
As I mentioned, in the interest of time, I'll submit my full testimony for the written record, but I'll present a shorter version of it right now for the purposes of today's hearing.
1:56:13
As the chair mentioned, Oath is the city's independent central administrative law tribunal.
1:56:19
In the past calendar year, fiscal challenges have not deterred us from our mission to endure to ensure due process, fair and impartial hearings, and timely decisions for everyone who comes before oath.
1:56:32
All of oaths adjudicators approach this responsibility with the utmost seriousness as do the Oath staff who help support our hearings.
1:56:40
I can personally speak to this commitment.
1:56:42
As the chief administrative law judge, I myself conduct trials and conferences where I meet with litigants and their representatives, listen to evidence, help parties find opportunities to settle, and issue decisions that are based on the law.
1:56:56
Even when faced with challenges, OAT's been able to maintain our standards by adapting our practices so that we continue to seamlessly deliver our services to New Yorkers, city agencies, and all parties who appear before us.
1:57:10
The proof is in the numbers.
1:57:12
In the calendar year 2024 alone, we processed almost 660,000 summonses.
1:57:19
We held close to 250,000 hearings.
1:57:23
We issued over 2,500 appeals decisions, conducted over six seventy trials, and closed over 17,000 special education cases.
1:57:33
It's a notable increase from the volume of work we did in calendar year 2023.
1:57:38
These tremendous figures are a testament to the amazing public servants who are part of the Oath team.
1:57:44
In each of these thousands of cases, the tireless and committed staff at Oath take great care to ensure that every party who appears before us is treated impartially and is accorded due process.
1:57:55
Oath has three main adjudicated divisions, the trials division, the hearings division, and the special education hearings division.
1:58:02
Oath has a robust help center that provides non legal support to unrepresented parties with cases at Oath.
1:58:09
Oath is also home to the city's Center for Creative Conflict Resolution and to the Administrative Judicial Institute.
1:58:17
Oates' work is also supported by a variety of internal teams including our administration division, general counsel team, IT division, legislative and public affairs teams and more.
1:58:28
A key and core ingredient to ensuring due process is keeping Oath impartial and independent.
1:58:35
For Oath, impartiality and independence means that our administrative law judges and our hearing officers listen to all sides, review the evidence without favor, apply the law fairly, and do this without any external influence.
1:58:49
We do not take direction from any city agencies on our cases.
1:58:54
At Oath we believe there's one standard of justice for all.
1:58:58
The members of the public who have cases at Oath are treated no differently from the city agencies that appear before us.
1:59:04
Independence and impartiality also means that Oath does not comment on enforcement policies, rules, or regulations, or on disciplinary practices of the agencies that file cases with us.
1:59:14
Our role is to adjudicate cases, not to set policy.
1:59:19
Consistent with this, when we regularly provide city council with data reports concerning cases filed with Oath, you'll note that we do not analyze that data or make recommendations.
1:59:30
Such analysis is not in our purview.
1:59:32
As for our budget, Oath's fiscal year twenty twenty five adopted budget was $73,400,000 and the fiscal year twenty twenty five current modified budget was $74,600,000 OAT's total preliminary fiscal budget for fiscal year twenty twenty six will be $77,200,000 Of that, 60,500,000.0 is in personnel services and 16,700,000.0 is in other than personnel services.
2:00:02
Agency headcount will be $4.55 for fiscal year twenty twenty six preliminary budget, And that doesn't include the 363 per session judicial hearing officers in the hearings division, all of whom work on a part time schedule.
2:00:17
Whatever challenges await the city, Oates' amazing staff have dedicated themselves to meeting the moment and making sure that New Yorkers receive impartial hearings and timely decisions.
2:00:26
Oath's staff is very much New York's fairest.
2:00:30
As noted, I'm gonna submit a more detailed version of the testimony into the record.
2:00:34
But for now I look forward to our continued efforts with the city council and I welcome any questions you may have.
2:00:39
Thank you.