Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) The location of
the hearing shall be the location included on the Notice of Hearing (see
Section
475.100(b)(1)
of this Part). All hearings shall be public unless required by statute or if
the hearing officer determines, in his or her sole discretion, that the
circumstances at any hearing warrant closure of the hearing in whole or in
part.
b) The following shall be the
order of proceedings of all hearings, subject to modification by the hearing
officer for good cause:
1) Presentation,
argument, and disposition of motions preliminary to a hearing on the merits of
the matters raised in the Notice of Opportunity for Hearing and Statement of
Charges or answer;
2) Presentation
of the State Superintendent's opening statement;
3) Presentation of the licensee's opening
statement;
4) The State
Superintendent's case;
5) The
licensee's case;
6) The State
Superintendent's rebuttal, if any;
7) The licensee's rebuttal, if any;
8) The State Superintendent's closing
statement;
9) The licensee's
closing statement;
10) Presentation
and argument of all motions prior to final order;
11) Presentation of written briefs pursuant
to subsection (j) of this Section; and
12) Filing of proposed findings of fact and
conclusions of law, and recommendations of the hearing officer.
c) The State Superintendent of
Education shall have the burden of proof. The standard of proof for any
administrative hearing held pursuant to this Subpart A shall be by the
preponderance of the evidence. [105 ILCS
5/21B-75]
d) Failure of a party to appear on the date
set for the hearing or failure to proceed at the hearing as ordered by the
hearing officer may, at the sole discretion of the hearing officer, constitute
a default. In the case of a default, the hearing officer shall enter the
findings, opinions, and recommendations as are appropriate based on the
pleadings and evidence received into the record.
e) Evidence
1) A party shall be entitled to present the
party's case or defense and oral or documentary evidence, to submit rebuttal
evidence, and to conduct any cross-examination as may be required for full and
true disclosure of the facts. Any oral or documentary evidence may be received
but a presiding hearing officer may exclude evidence that is irrelevant,
immaterial or unduly repetitious. The rules of evidence and privileges applied
in civil cases in the courts of the State of Illinois shall be followed;
however, evidence not admissible under those rules of evidence may be admitted,
except where excluded by statute, if it is of a type commonly relied upon by
reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs. Subject to these
requirements, when a hearing will be expedited and the interests of the parties
will not be prejudiced, a hearing officer may allow evidence to be received in
written form. [5 ILCS
100/10-40]
2) The testimony of a witness shall be under
oath or affirmation administered by the hearing officer or a certified court
reporter.
3) If a party objects to
the admission or rejection of any examination, or to the failure to limit its
scope, then the party shall state briefly the grounds for the objection.
Rulings on all objections shall appear in the record. When the admissibility of
disputed evidence depends upon an arguable interpretation of substantive law,
the hearing officer shall admit the evidence subject to the right of the
hearing officer to strike the evidence from the record either during the
hearing or as a part of the proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law if
the hearing officer determines that it was improperly admitted, in which case
it shall not be considered in making proposed findings of fact, conclusions of
law, and recommendations.
4) Formal
exception to an adverse ruling is not required.
5) A hearing officer may, for good cause
shown in compelling circumstances and upon appropriate safeguards, permit
presentation of testimony at hearing by contemporaneous transmission from a
different location (i.e., video-conference technology).
A) Good cause or compelling circumstances
include when a witness is unexpectedly unable to attend the hearing, such as
due to accident or illness, but is still able to testify remotely. Good cause
can be established by agreement between the parties, and advance notice should
be required.
B) Adequate safeguards
are necessary to ensure accurate identification of the witness and protect
against influences by other people present with the witness.
f) Official notice may
be taken of any material fact not appearing in evidence in the record if the
circuit courts of this State could take judicial notice of this fact. In
addition, notice may be taken of generally recognized technical or scientific
facts within the specialized knowledge of the SEPLB. Parties shall be notified
either before or during the hearing, or by reference in preliminary reports or
otherwise, of the material noticed, including any staff memoranda or data, and
they shall be afforded an opportunity to contest the facts so noticed. The
SEPLB's expertise, technical competence and specialized knowledge of the SEPLB
may be utilized in the evaluation of the evidence. [5 ILCS
100/10-40(c)]
g) Hostile or Adverse Witness
1) If the hearing officer determines that a
witness is hostile or unwilling or adverse, then the witness may be examined by
the party calling the witness as if under cross-examination.
2) The party calling an occurrence witness,
upon the showing that the party called the witness in good faith and is
surprised by the witness' testimony, may impeach the witness by proof of prior
inconsistent statements.
h) Oral proceedings or any part thereof shall
be recorded [5 ILCS
100/10-35(b)] by a certified court
reporter. These records shall be transcribed either:
1) upon written application filed with the
reporter or hearing officer by any party and upon the payment of fees at the
rate provided in the agreement with the reporter or as established by the State
Superintendent of Education, or
2)
upon receipt of summons in administrative review or an order of a court, with
payment of fees when allowed or required by statute. Any recording or
transcription shall be retained through and including the time allotted for
appeal, revision, re-hearing, or other manner of review, prior to final
disposition as provided for by the SEPLB or by law.
i) The official record of each hearing
conducted pursuant to this Subpart A shall consist of the items enumerated in
Section 10-35(a) of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act [5 ILCS
100/10-35(a)] and shall be
maintained by the Secretary of the SEPLB.
j) The hearing officer shall allow parties to
submit written briefs within 21 days after the close of the hearing or any
other reasonable time as the hearing officer shall determine.
