SECTION 435.15. Appeals

(a) An applicant/licensee may appeal the denial/revocation of a license by filing a written appeal request with the Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector within 30 days of the date notice is sent under §435.13(b) of this chapter (relating to Denial or Revocation of License). Any information/documentation in support of such appeal must be submitted with the appeal request.

(b) The Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector shall appoint a Review Board consisting of five members. At least one member of the Review Board shall be a law enforcement officer. The Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector may appoint one or more Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector employees to serve on the Board. Provided at least one law enforcement officer is in attendance, appeals shall be reviewed at a meeting of at least three members of the Board. Such meetings shall be held periodically as determined by the Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector.

(c) Timely filed appeals will be scheduled for review at the next Review Board meeting, which shall take place no less than sixty (60) days following the filing of the appeal. An applicant/licensee whose appeal is under review may attend the meeting and, at the Board's discretion, provide testimony in support of the appeal. The Board also has discretion to consider documentation not timely provided under subsection (a) of this section.

(d) Recommendation. The law enforcement officer in attendance shall preside over the meeting and determine when each appeal has been sufficiently considered, discussed and reviewed by the members in attendance. Following such determination, each member in attendance shall state and briefly describe the reasons for his/her opinion as to whether the action appealed should be sustained. Thereafter, the presiding law enforcement officer shall independently make a written recommendation to the Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector. The written recommendation shall be signed by the presiding officer and shall identify which, if any, of the other members in attendance did not agree with it.

(e) Within fifteen (15) days of receiving the presiding officer's written recommendation, the Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector shall make a final determination on the appeal. The Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector shall consider the presiding officer's recommendation before making the final determination.

(f) The Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector shall send notice of its final determination to the applicant/licensee by certified mail as follows:

(1) License denial - to each applicant at the home address listed on his/her application form;

(2) Runner License revocation - to the most recent home address on file;

(3) Title Service License revocation - to the attention of all partners, owners, officers, directors, or principals (as applicable) at the most recent primary physical business address on file.

Source Note: The provisions of this §435.15 adopted to be effective May 5, 2020, 45 TexReg 2891