Hearings are conducted by administrative law judges or hearing examiners pursuant to the DC Administrative Procedure Act (DCAPA), DC Code 1-1501 et seq., and the case law developed under the DCAPA. The Office of Ajudication (OAD) conducts hearings pursuant to the DCRA Civil Infractions Act of 1985 (Civil Infractions), DC Code 6-2701 et seq.; the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act of 1978, DC Code 5-1001 et seq., and various other laws and regulations that require administrative hearings. These cases include public hall licensing; violations of the clean hands act and historic preservation; referrals from professional licensing boards; and violations of the housing, business, zoning, construction codes. Each law or regulation has specific procedural requirements and should be reviewed to determine the time to file pre-hearing documents, to determine procedural rights during the hearing, and the time to file post-hearing documents, including requests for reconsideration and notices of appeal.

A party may request a subpoena for a witness(es) or a document(s). The subpoena requests must be submitted not later than five (5) days prior to the hearing. At the time of the hearing, the party should be able to establish proof of service on the witness(es) or the document(s) requested.

All hearings are digitally recorded. A copy of the recorded hearing may be purchased and OAD will, upon request, give the copied tape(s) or compact disk(s) to the court reporter or transcriber of the requestor's choice. The court reporter or transcriber must retrieve the tape or compact disk from OAD and certify that the transcript is a true and accurate copy of the hearing. This certification can only be made if the court reporter or transcriber received the taped record directly from OAD. Requests for copies of the tape(s) and compact disk(s) will be fulfilled within three (3) business days of the request.