Researcher: JO Page 1 4/26/21
OLR Bill Analysis
SB 940
AN ACT CONCERNING STATE AGENCY COMPLIANCE WITH
PROBATE COURT ORDERS.
SUMMARY
This bill specifically requires any state agency that is a party to a
probate court proceeding to recognize, apply, and enforce any probate
court order, denial, or decree that applies to the agency’s
determination in a contested case.
Under the bill, a “state agency” refers to an agency as defined in the
Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA). The bill also uses the
UAPA’s definition of contested case (see BACKGROUND).
Unlike most probate appeals, the bill requires a party appealing
such a probate court decision to file the appeal in Hartford Superior
Court, rather than the Superior Court in the judicial district where the
probate court is located. Also, as is currently the case for certain
probate appeals, the bill:
1. requires hearings on such an appeal to begin within 90 days
after the appeal is filed, unless the probate court or Superior
Court has granted a stay, and
2. prohibits the Superior Court from referring the appeal to a
special assignment probate judge.
The bill also makes technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
BACKGROUND
Definitions
Under the UAPA, an agency is a state board, commission, 2021SB-00940-R000610-BA.DOCX
Researcher: JO Page 2 4/26/21
department, or officer authorized by law to make regulations or to
determine contested cases. The term does not include the House,
Senate, or any legislative committee; courts; the Council on Probate
Judicial Conduct; the governor, lieutenant governor, or attorney
general; town or regional boards of education; or automobile dispute
settlement panels.
A contested case is a proceeding in which a party’s legal rights,
duties, or privileges are required by state statute or regulation to be
determined by an agency after an opportunity for a hearing or in
which a hearing is held. The term specifically includes rate-making,
price fixing, and licensing. It does not include proceedings on a
petition for a declaratory ruling, hearings on proposed agency
regulations, or hearings conducted by the Department of Correction or
the Board of Pardons and Paroles (CGS § 4-166).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Judiciary Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 37 Nay 0 (04/08/2021)