Summary
The Alaska Supreme Court held that an administrative appeal survives the death of the original appellant and that the proper substitute is an individual entitled to prosecute or defend the underlying review proceeding. The court remanded for consideration of whether Barbara Brease’s agency comments made her similarly situated and therefore a proper party for substitution. It affirmed that the personal representative could not transfer or assign the right to appeal to Brease or Friends of Animals, Inc.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a timely administrative appeal survives the death of the appellant under Alaska Appellate Rule 516(a).
- Who qualifies as a proper party for substitution after the death of an appellant in an administrative review proceeding.
- Whether a personal representative may transfer or assign the right to continue an appeal to another person or organization.
Holdings
- The proper party to maintain appellate review after the death of an appellant is an individual who would be entitled to prosecute or defend in the review proceeding below. The superior court applied the correct legal test, but it erred by failing to consider the substantive comments submitted by proposed substitute appellant Barbara Brease; the matter was remanded for application of the test to the complete record.
- A personal representative may not transfer or assign the right to continue an administrative appeal to another person or organization.
Key quotations
“The proper party to maintain appellate review after the death of an appellant is an individual who would be entitled to prosecute or defend in the review proceeding below.” (at -11-)
“Thus, the superior court did not err in concluding Licht could not transfer or assign her right to appeal.” (at -16-)
Factual background
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources reclassified approximately 26,765 acres within the Denali Borough by removing a wildlife-habitat designation and separately approved conveyance of approximately 21,412 acres of state land to the borough. Wildlife biologist Gordon Haber submitted timely comments and sought reconsideration, arguing that the decisions were arbitrary and capricious and violated statutory requirements governing land reclassification and conveyance. Haber died in a plane crash while his superior-court appeal was pending, after which his personal representative sought substitution of Barbara Brease and Friends of Animals, Inc.; Brease had submitted substantive comments, but after the applicable deadline.
Procedural history
The Department of Natural Resources issued decisions reclassifying state lands and approving their conveyance to the Denali Borough. Gordon Haber sought reconsideration and appealed the denial to the superior court, but died while the appeal was pending. The superior court initially allowed substitution of his personal representative but denied substitution of Barbara Brease and Friends of Animals; on reconsideration, it denied substitution in full and dismissed the appeal. The Alaska Supreme Court remanded for reconsideration of whether Brease was a proper party in light of comments contained in the record, while affirming that the personal representative could not transfer or assign the right to appeal.
Remand instructions
The superior court must reconsider whether Barbara Brease is a proper party for substitution by applying the proper-party test to all evidence in the record, including the substantive comments she submitted during the agency proceedings. The ruling that the personal representative could not transfer or assign the right to appeal is affirmed.