ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

18A-110-INS · Department of Insurance · 2019-06-19

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

HEARING: June 4, 2019 APPEARANCES: No one appeared for Respondent; Deian Ousounov, Esq. appeared for the Department of Insurance ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Thomas Shedden FINDINGS OF FACT On April 10, 2019, the Arizona Department of Insurance (“Department”) issued a Notice of Hearing setting the above-captioned matter for hearing at 1:00 p.m. June 4, 2019. No representative for Respondent Amber Latecia McCullough appeared at the scheduled time and the matter was convened in her absence at about 1:15 p.m. On or about September 11, 2017, Respondent submitted to the Department an application for an insurance producer’s license. On September 25, 2017, the Department issued to Respondent License No. 18549004, which is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2021. With her application, Respondent included a copy of her fingerprints. The Department forwarded Respondent’s fingerprints the Arizona Department of Public Safety to obtain a state and federal criminal records check. Respondent’s fingerprints were illegible and not of sufficient quality for use in conducting the criminal records check. An applicant who submits illegible fingerprints is considered by the Department to have submitted an incomplete application. In a letter dated March 16, 2018 that was sent to Respondent’s mailing address of record, the Department informed Respondent that on or before April 6, 2018 she was required to submit to the Department a replacement set of fingerprints. With that letter, the Department included a blank fingerprint card, the appropriate form to complete, and a list of locations at which Respondent could be fingerprinted. The Department did not receive from Respondent any response to its March 16, 2018 letter. In a letter dated April 17, 2018 that was sent to Respondent’s business address of record, the Department informed Respondent that it was preparing to initiate an administrative action against her license because she had failed to submit a full set of fingerprints. The Department’s April 17, 2018 letter also informed Respondent that on or before May 4, 2018, she was required to submit the replacement set of fingerprints, or in the alternative, she could surrender her license. Respondent did not submit a replacement set of fingerprints and she did not surrendered her license. The Department requested that Respondent’s license be revoked. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW The Department bears the burden of persuasion. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 41- 1092.07(G)(2). The standard of proof on all issues is that of a preponderance of the evidence. Ariz. Admin. Code § R2-19-119. A preponderance of the evidence is: The greater weight of the evidence, not necessarily established by the greater number of witnesses testifying to a fact but by evidence that has the most convincing force; superior evidentiary weight that, though not sufficient to free the mind wholly from all reasonable doubt, is still sufficient to incline a fair and impartial mind to one side of the issue rather than the other. Black’s Law Dictionary 1373 (10th ed. 2014). With her application, Respondent was required to submit to the Department a complete set of fingerprints. Respondent’s submission of fingerprints did not satisfy this requirement because the quality was not sufficient for the Arizona Department of Public Safety to conduct the required state and federal criminal records check. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-285(E)(2). Because Respondent did not submit fingerprints of sufficient quality, her application is incomplete, which is a violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 20-295(A)(1). Respondent’s conduct constitutes a violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat., Title 20, which provides grounds for the Director of the Department to revoke Respondent’s license. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A)(2). RECOMMENDED ORDER IT IS ORDERED that Respondent Amber Latecia McCullough’s License No. 18549004 is revoked. In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order will be five days after the date of that certification.

Done this day, June 19, 2019.

/s/ Thomas Shedden Thomas Shedden Administrative Law Judge

Transmitted electronically to:

Keith A. Schraad, Director Arizona Department of Insurance -----------------------

Office of Administrative Hearings 1740 West Adams Street, Lower Level Phoenix, Arizona 85007 (602) 542-9826