Section 651.060 – Power to conduct investigations and issue subpoenas; enforcement; witness fees; staff; delegation; rules; public information programs; fees.

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may conduct investigations, issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum, administer oaths, obtain evidence and take testimony in all matters relating to the duties required under ORS 279C.800 to 279C.870, 651.030, 651.050, 651.120 and 651.170 and ORS chapters 652, 653, 658 and 659A and in all contested cases scheduled for hearing by the Bureau of Labor and Industries pursuant to ORS chapter 183 when the information sought is relevant to a lawful investigative purpose and is reasonable in scope. The testimony shall be taken in some suitable place in the vicinity to which testimony is applicable. The commissioner shall adopt rules for gathering information through subpoenas or testimony. The rules must include procedures through which a party may object to providing information. After being served with a subpoena, if a person refuses, without reasonable cause, to be examined, to answer any question or to produce any document or other thing as required by the subpoena, the commissioner may petition the circuit court in the county in which the investigation is pending for an order directing the person to show cause why the person has not complied with the subpoena and should not be held in contempt. The commissioner shall serve the court’s order upon the person in the manner provided by ORCP 55 D. If the person fails to show cause for the noncompliance, the court shall order the person to comply with the subpoena within such time as the court shall direct and may hold the person in contempt.

(2) Witnesses subpoenaed and testifying before any officer of the bureau shall be paid the fees and mileage provided for witnesses in ORS 44.415 (2). The payment shall be made from the fund appropriated for the use of the bureau and in the manner provided in ORS 651.170 for the payment of other expenses of the bureau.

(3) The commissioner shall employ a deputy commissioner and such other assistants or personnel as may be necessary to carry into effect the powers and duties of the commissioner or of the bureau and may prescribe the duties and responsibilities of the employees. The commissioner may delegate any of the powers of the commissioner or of the bureau to the deputy commissioner and to the other assistants employed under this subsection for the purpose of transacting the business of the commissioner’s office or of the bureau. In the absence of the commissioner, the deputy commissioner and the other assistants whom the commissioner employs have full authority, under the commissioner’s direction, to do and perform any duty that the law requires the commissioner to perform. However, the commissioner is responsible for all acts of the deputy commissioner and of the assistants employed under this subsection.

(4) The commissioner may adopt such reasonable rules as may be necessary to administer and enforce any statutes over which the commissioner or the bureau has jurisdiction.

(5) The commissioner may conduct and charge and collect fees for public information programs pertaining to any of the statutes over which the commissioner or the bureau has jurisdiction. [Amended by 1959 c.627 §8; 1963 c.258 §1; 1971 c.734 §29; 1975 c.282 §1; 1979 c.225 §3; 1981 c.851 §2; 1983 c.636 §1; 1989 c.980 §17; 1997 c.240 §1; 2003 c.794 §305; 2005 c.22 §§454,455; 2007 c.277 §1]

Note: ORCP 55 was repealed and replaced by the Council on Court Procedures Amendments promulgated on December 8, 2018, and effective January 1, 2020. The text of 651.060 was not amended by enactment of the Legislative Assembly to reflect the repeal. Editorial adjustment of 651.060 for the repeal of ORCP 55 has not been made. See the ORCP 55 Cross-Reference Chart available from the Council on Court Procedures.