Pursuant to Section 410.202(a), a written request for appeal must be filed within 15 days of the date of receipt of the hearing officer’s decision. Section 410.202 was amended effective June 17, 2001, to exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays listed in Section 662.003 of the Texas Government Code from the computation of time in which to file an appeal. Section 410.202(d). 28 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 143.3(e) (Rule 143.3(e)) provides that an appeal is presumed to have been timely filed if it is mailed not later than the 15th day after the date of receipt of the hearing officer’s decision and received by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (Division) not later than the 20th day after the date of receipt of the hearing officer’s decision. Both portions of Rule 143.3(e) must be satisfied in order for an appeal to be timely. Appeals Panel Decision (APD) No. 002806, decided January 17, 2001.
Records of the Division indicated that the hearing officer’s decision was mailed to the claimant on August 12, 2005. Pursuant to Rule 102.5(d) and Rule 143.3(d)(1), unless the great weight of evidence indicates otherwise, the claimant was deemed to have received the hearing officer’s decision 5 days later, or on Wednesday, August 17, 2005.
With the deemed date of receipt of August 17, 2005, in accordance with amended Section 410.202, the appeal needed to be filed or mailed no later than September 8, 2005. We note that Labor Day, September 5, 2005, is listed as a national holiday in Texas Government Code Section 662.003(a) and is thus excluded in computing the 15-day appeal period. The claimant’s request for review was sent to the Division by U.S. mail, and was postmarked September 9, 2005, and was received by the Division on September 15, 2005. Since the appeal was neither mailed nor filed on or before September 8, 2005, the appeal is untimely.
Having determined that the hearing officer’s decision and order have become final under Section 410.169 because a timely appeal was not filed with the Division, the Appeals Panel does not have jurisdiction to review the hearing officer’s decision.
Margaret L. Turner
CONCUR:
Thomas A. Knapp – Appeals Judge
Robert W. Potts – Appeals Judge