The two candidates for insurance commissioner remain parties for now after Tuesday’s scheduled argument was overtaken by a challenge to the proceeding’s decision-makers.
OKLAHOMA CITY — A proceeding examining Oklahoma’s homeowners insurance market was placed on hold Tuesday without resolving whether the two candidates for insurance commissioner may participate.
Independent hearing examiner John D. Miller stayed the case while a request to disqualify him and Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready is addressed, The Journal Record reported.
The decision leaves unresolved the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s effort to remove Republican Bob Sullivan and Democrat Craig MacIntyre from the case. The candidates are running in the Nov. 3 general election to succeed the term-limited Mulready.
Disqualification issue takes priority
Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Sullivan jointly asked that Mulready and Miller be removed from decision-making roles in the case. Their filing alleges that the proceeding’s structure and handling raise questions about impartiality.
The allegations have not been decided. The Insurance Department disputes that grounds exist to disqualify either official.
Miller issued an administrative order Monday canceling Tuesday’s previously scheduled pretrial conference and argument over the candidates’ participation. He said the hearing would instead address only the disqualification request.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Miller determined that state law places the question of his disqualification before Mulready as head of the Insurance Department, according to The Journal Record.
Miller then stayed the proceeding until the disqualification dispute is resolved and struck future hearing settings, the publication reported.
The stay also puts in question the broader hearing scheduled for Oct. 26 on whether Oklahoma’s homeowners insurance market is competitive. That hearing had already been postponed from Sept. 14 and was scheduled eight days before the general election.
A finding that the market is not competitive would subject homeowners insurance rates to additional review under current state law.
