California Code of Regulations
Title 8 - Industrial Relations
Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations
Chapter 8 - Office of the Director
Subchapter 6 - Prevailing Wage Hearings
Article 1 - General
Section 17204 - Appointment of Hearing Officers; Delegation of Appointment Authority to Chief Counsel

(a) Upon receipt of a Request for Review of an Assessment or of a Notice of Withholding of Contract Payments, the Director, acting through the Chief Counsel (see subpart (c) below), shall appoint an impartial Hearing Officer to conduct the review proceeding.

(b) The appointed Hearing Officer shall be an attorney employed by the Office of the Director -- Legal Unit. However, if no attorney employed by the Office of the Director -- Legal Unit is available or qualified to serve in a particular matter, the appointed Hearing Officer may be any attorney or administrative law judge employed by the Department, other than an employee of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

(c) Any person appointed to serve as a Hearing Officer in any matter shall possess at least the minimum qualifications for service as an administrative law judge pursuant to Government Code section 11502(b) and shall be someone who is not precluded from serving under Government Code section 11425.30.

(d) The Director's authority under Labor Code section 1742(b) to appoint an impartial Hearing Officer, is delegated in all cases to the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Director or to the Chief Counsel's designated Assistant or Acting Chief Counsel when the Chief Counsel is unavailable or disqualified from participating in a particular matter. This delegation includes all related authority under Rule 40 [Section 17240] below to appoint a different Hearing Officer to conduct all or any part of a review proceeding as well as the authority to consider and decide or to assign to another Hearing Officer for consideration and decision any motion to disqualify an appointed Hearing Officer.