2006 Code of Virginia § 60.2-631 - Board of Review

60.2-631. Board of Review.

A. The Commissioner, in his discretion, is hereby authorized to appoint aBoard of Review consisting of three members, one of whom shall be designatedchairman for a term of six years. The terms of the members first takingoffice shall be two, four, and six years, respectively, as designated by theCommissioner at the time of the appointment. Vacancies shall be filled byappointment by the Commissioner for the unexpired term. During his term ofmembership on the Board no member shall serve as an officer or committeemember of any political organization. The members of the Board shall becompensated in a manner determined by the Commission. The Commission shallfurnish the Board such stenographic and clerical assistance as the Board mayrequire. All compensation of the members of the Board and all necessaryexpenses for the operation thereof shall be paid out of the administrativefund provided for in 60.2-306 through 60.2-309 and 60.2-311 through60.2-313. The Commissioner may at any time, after notice and hearing, removeany member for cause. The Commissioner may, after thirty days' notice to themembers of the Board and upon a finding that the Board is no longer needed,abolish the same.

B. 1. The Board shall meet upon the call of the chairman. It shall have thesame powers and perform the same functions vested in the Commission in thistitle for review of decisions by an appeal tribunal, including the power toadminister oaths and affirmations, take depositions, certify to officialacts, and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and theproduction of books, papers, correspondence, memoranda and other recordsdeemed necessary as evidence in connection with disputed claims.

2. The Board may hold its hearings in the county or city where the claimantwas last employed, except that hearings involving the provisions ofsubdivision 2 of 60.2-612 shall be held in the county or city where theclaimant was last employed. When the same or substantially similar evidenceis relevant and material to matters in issue in claims by more than oneindividual or in claims by a single individual with respect to two or moreweeks of unemployment, the same time and place for considering each suchclaim may be fixed, hearings thereon jointly conducted, and a single recordof the proceedings made.

C. The Commission may issue such regulations as it deems necessary for theprocedure of the Board in the conduct of its hearings. During the time theBoard is organized under authority of the Commissioner, the Commission shallhave no jurisdiction under 60.2-622. Any decision of the Board shall becomefinal ten days after the date of notification or mailing and judicial reviewshall be permitted the claimant, the Commission or any interested partyclaiming to be aggrieved. In any judicial action involving any such decisionthe Commission shall be represented by the Office of the Attorney General.Any decision of the Board from which no judicial review is sought within thetime prescribed in 60.2-625 shall be conclusive against any party to thehearing before the Board and the Commission in any subsequent judicialproceedings involving liability for taxes under this title.

D. Within the time specified in 60.2-625 the Commission, or any party tothe proceedings before the Board, may obtain judicial review by filing in thecircuit court of the county or city in which the individual who filed theclaim was last employed, in the Commonwealth, a petition for review of suchdecision. In any such proceeding any other party to the proceeding shall bemade a party respondent. The Commission shall be deemed to be a party to anysuch proceeding. The petition need not be verified. A copy of such petitionshall be served upon the Commission and each party to the proceeding heldbefore the Board at least thirty days prior to the placing of the petitionupon the docket. The mailing of a copy of such petition to each party at hislast known address shall be sufficient service. The Commission shall filealong with its petition or answer a certified copy of the record of the case,including all documents and papers and a transcript of all testimony taken inthe matter, together with the Board's findings, conclusions and decisiontherein.

E. In any proceeding under this section the Board's findings of facts, ifsupported by the evidence and in the absence of fraud, shall be conclusiveand the jurisdiction of the court shall be confined to questions of law. Thecourt may order additional evidence to be taken by the Board, which suchadditional evidence, findings of fact or conclusions, together with theadditional transcript of the record, shall be certified by the chairman ofthe Board and filed by him with the court. Such petition for review shall beheard in a summary manner and shall have preference over all other cases onthe docket, except cases in which the Commonwealth is a party.

F. An appeal may be taken from the decision of such court to the Court ofAppeals in conformity with Part Five A of the Rules of Supreme Court andother applicable laws. From any such decision involving (i) the provisions of 60.2-612 or 60.2-618, (ii) whether an employing unit constitutes anemployer or (iii) whether services performed for or in connection with thebusiness of an employing unit constitute employment for such employing unit,the Court of Appeals shall have jurisdiction to review such decisionregardless of the amount involved in any claim for benefits. It shall not benecessary, in any proceeding before the Board, to enter exceptions to itsruling, and no bond shall be required upon any appeal to any court. Upon thefinal determination of such judicial proceeding, the Board shall enter anorder in accordance with such determination.

(Code 1950, 60-57; 1966, c. 30; 1968, c. 738, 60.1-69; 1974, c. 466;1984, c. 703; 1986, c. 480.)