Gale Encyclopedia of American Law Volume 6 P26 fully illuminates today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, important documents and more. Legal issues are fully discussed in easy-to-understand language, including such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and thousands more. | 238 LAW AND LITERATURE of the country are considered law even though they are not formulated by an elected official or judge. Federal administrative agency rules are approved by Congress so ultimately they are a product of the will of elected officials. Similarly on the state and local levels an administrative agency may promulgate rules that have the force of law but only at the pleasure of the elected lawmakers who created the agency. If an agency seeks to change a regulation it must in most cases inform the public of its intentions and provide the public with an opportunity to voice concerns at a public meeting. Not all agency regulations have the force of law. Agency rules that merely interpret other rules state policy or govern organization procedure and practice need not be obeyed by parties outside the agency. Some administrative agencies have quasijudicial powers. That is they have limited authority to hear disputes and make binding decisions on matters relevant to the agency. For example the department of health and human services HHS has a court with authority to hear cases concerning actions by the HHS such as the denial of social security benefits. An administrative law judge ALJ presides over the court and appeals from ALJ decisions can be taken to an HHs appeals council. if an administrative agency has quasi-judicial powers decisions made by the ALJ and boards of appeals have the force of law. The quickest way to uncover information about state agency regulations is to search the World Wide Web. Most state agencies maintain a comprehensive website. Each state s secretary of state can also be accessed on the Web. Most agencies are named according to their area of concern. For example a department of gaming is concerned with gambling and a department of fish game and wildlife is concerned with issues related to hunting and wildlife conservation. Executive orders are issued to interpret implement or administer laws. on the federal level executive orders
