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Division of Hearings
Indiana Code 14-10-2-2 authorized establishment of the Division of Hearings, an authority implemented by Commission resolution in 1990. In addition to assisting the Commission with administrative review, the Division of Hearings also provides Administrative Law Judges for actions by the Indiana Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists and the Indiana Board of Registration for Soil Scientists.
The Division of Hearings is the only division established within the Indiana Natural Resources Commission. The Division of Hearings assists with the conduct of appeals, the preparation of permanent rules, nonrule policy documents, and other initiatives by the Commission.
MEET THE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES
Sandra L. Jensen
Sandra L. Jensen has been an attorney licensed in Indiana since 1990, when she earned her J.D. from IU School of Law-Indianapolis. Jensen’s legal career began as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Marion County Indiana from 1990 to 1992 and in Clay County Indiana from 1992 to 1995. After a short time in private practice, Jensen served as a supervising attorney for the Indiana Civil Rights Commission until approximately 2000. Since that time she has devoted her career to environmental and natural resources law.
Jensen served as the Director of Criminal Investigations for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for four years where she supervised the office’s activities and actively participated in investigations. In this position she attended the Environmental Protection Agency’s Advanced Environmental Crimes Investigation Training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. In 2014, Jensen was promoted to serve as the Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Indiana Natural Resources Commission where she had previously served as an administrative law judge for ten years. For the Natural Resources Commission Jensen presides over cases involving diverse subjects including coal mining and reclamation, oil and gas production, forestry matters, floodway issues, and topics associated with Indiana’s public freshwater lakes. Jensen is a registered mediator and serves as the Chair of the Indiana Shared Neutrals Program. She is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association and the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary, for which she previously served as President.
Dawn A. Wilson
Dawn A. Wilson earned her J.D. from the IU School of Law-Indianapolis in 1986 and has continued as a licensed attorney in good standing since that time. Wilson served as a Specialist/Attorney Advisor with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 1987 to1996, working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Indiana on creditor rights issues and advising USDA staff on the appropriate interpretation of laws, regulations and federal directives. After leaving employment with the USDA, Wilson developed contract and subcontracts as a part of Indiana University’s Research and Sponsored Programs office, working closely with the IU School of Medicine. During that time, she also volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem for children. Wilson joined the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) in 2006, litigated and was promoted to serve as an Administrative Law Judge and again promoted to serve as the Chief Administrative Law Judge for DCS. In her roles with DCS, she developed standardized practices, processes and procedures for administrative review hearing requests heard under the authority of DCS and conducted administrative review hearings for child welfare matters.
In 2015, Wilson was appointed to serve as an Administrative Law Judge for the Natural Resources Commission. She currently presides over administrative review proceedings that involve primarily, but not exclusively, coal mining and reclamation, oil and gas production, forestry matters, permits and notices of violation for activities within a floodway, fish and wildlife permits and topics associated with Indiana’s public freshwater lakes. Wilson is a registered mediator and performs as a Neutral mediating under the Indiana Shared Neutrals Program. She is a member of and has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary as an officer.