Oliver V. State Land Department

On April 9, 1981, appellant, Charles L. Oliver, filed his first amended complaint*fn1 against appellees, State Land Department (department), Joe T. Fallini, State Land Commissioner (commissioner), and Mesa Grande Corporation (corporation). This complaint was actually an appeal from a decision entered by the department on January 29, 1981. On April 16, 1983, the department and the commissioner moved to dismiss the first amended complaint. The department and the commissioner alleged that Oliver had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies because he had not filed a motion for rehearing with the department. See Arizona Regulation R12-5-03.*fn2 Oliver filed a response and a hearing was held. On June 25, 1981, the trial court entered its amended judgment in favor of appellees*fn3 concluding that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the matter. This appeal followed.