39-51-301. Administration -- duties and powers of department. (1) It is the duty of the department to administer this chapter and it may adopt, amend, or rescind rules, to employ persons, make expenditures, require reports, make investigations, and take action as it considers necessary or suitable in administering this chapter.
     (2) The department shall determine its own organization and methods of procedure in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and shall have an official seal, which is judicially noticed.
     (3) Whenever the department believes that a change in contribution or benefit rates will become necessary to protect the solvency of the fund, it shall promptly inform the governor and the legislature and make recommendations with respect to the change.
     (4) The department and the board may issue subpoenas and compel testimony and the production of evidence, including books and records, in regard to any investigation or proceeding under this chapter.
     (5) The department shall delegate to the department of revenue duties associated with the administration of unemployment insurance contributions and the employment security account so long as the duties are carried out in conformity with the requirements of the program budget plan with the United States department of labor. The delegated duties do not include oversight duties such as revenue quality control, risk management, and trust fund management. The department of revenue must receive funds from the department for the performance of the delegated duties.
     (6) Employees transferring from the department to the department of revenue as a result of a delegation of duties in subsection (5) are entitled to all rights including those under 2-15-131, possessed as a state officer or employee before transferring, including rights to tenure in office and of rank or grade, rights to vacation and sick pay and leave, rights under any retirement or personnel plan or labor union contract, rights to compensatory time earned, and any other rights under any law or administrative policy including the State Employee Protection Act. Employees transferring must be considered internal applicants by the department for recruitment purposes for the period from July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998.
     (7) The department of revenue shall succeed the department in its rights to property relating to the delegation of duties in subsection (5) to the extent that is consistent with federal property transfer policy. The property includes real property, records, office equipment, forms, supplies, and contracts other than the program budget plan with the United States department of labor.
     (8) (a) The delegation of duties in subsection (5) does not affect the validity of any pending judicial or administrative proceeding.
     (b) Appeals that were filed with the board of labor appeals or the department's hearings bureau before July 1, 1997, must follow the procedures and processes in effect when the appeal was first taken. An appeal that is filed on or after July 1, 1997, must be taken in accordance with the procedures and processes in effect on the date the appeal is filed.
     (c) The department of revenue must be substituted for the department and succeed to all audits, determinations, and other actions that have not been appealed to the board of labor appeals or the department's hearings bureau prior to July 1, 1997.
     (9) The rights, privileges, and duties of the holders of bonds and other obligations issued and of the parties to contracts, leases, indentures, and other transactions entered into before the delegation of duties in subsection (5) remain in effect, and none of those rights, privileges, duties, covenants, or agreements are impaired or diminished by reason of the delegation of duties. The department of revenue is substituted for the department and, subject to the provisions of subsection (5), succeeds to the rights and duties under the provisions of those bonds, contracts, leases, indentures, and other transactions. The provisions of this subsection (9) do not apply to the program budget plan agreement between the department and the United States department of labor.

     History: En. Subd. (a), Sec. 11, Ch. 137, L. 1937; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 156, L. 1961; amd. Sec. 40, Ch. 93, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 368, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 87-120; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 349, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 125, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 125, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 20, Ch. 491, L. 1997.