Administrative law is a type of law which govern the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rule making, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of civil law because it affects professional licenses and imposes fines but does not include criminal sanctions. Although criminal cases may be brought by a county prosecutor or attorney general, most administrative law is dealt with by governmental attorneys.
In Michigan, the assorted governmental departments deal with the administrative laws of Michigan. This could be professional licensing from the MI Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs (LARA), ground water matters (EGLE), how you operate your boats on Michigan’s Great Lakes (DNR), or obtaining a revoked drivers license (SOS). As a matter of fact, here is a list of all the Michigan Departments: Michigan Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural and Rural Development, Michigan State Police, Department of Corrections, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Department of Insurance and Financial Services and the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman.
Remember, it’s these departments that are tasked with the administration of the laws past by the Michigan Legislature. When the Michigan House & Senate pass a bill which becomes law, those elected politicians don’t enforce the laws, nor do they deal with the laws on a day-to-day basis. It’s the state government workers who have to implement the laws. Those state workers will promulgate rules to help fill in the gaps of the Michigan laws. Think of a new law like the skeleton of the body. The law, much like a skeleton, is the basic bare-bones (pun intended) outline of what the law says you can or cannot do. But it’s through rule promulgation where you start to add in the eyes, ears, the organs, the skin to the skeleton to make it a body.
The same holds true for a law. The Michigan Legislature says “X” will be the new law. But then through rule promulgation you begin to add on other pieces to make the new law work. But it’s important to pay attention to the rules being promulgated to ensure those rules do not exceed the scope of the statute. It a law says you must to “this action” before you can obtain a professional license, you cannot add additional requirements to receive the license. I have seen many rules which greatly exceed the scope of a law by placing standards and requirements which are not found in the actual law. Also look at rules and say to yourself, “Where in the law does it say this can be required?” and use the law to determine whether a rule helps to explain a law or does it impose greater restrictions than what the law requires?
This law here governs how administrative rules and hearings are to be conducted. This law is the Bible for administrative law attorneys.