Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 39, September 26, 2024
(a) General
provisions. Public hearings shall be held in the hearing rooms of the
commission, in any district courtroom, at any other place in Kansas that the
commission may deem appropriate, or at any place required by statute. All
hearings before the commission shall be conducted by the commission or by a
presiding officer, who may be a commissioner, a hearing examiner, or any other
person duly authorized by the commission to conduct the hearing. The provisions
of these regulations governing hearings before the commission shall be
applicable to hearings conducted by the presiding officer.
(b) Convening of hearings. On the date and at
the place and time stated in the notice of the hearing, the presiding officer
conducting the hearing shall call the docket by announcing the docket number
and by reading the caption of the case into the record. Commission hearings
shall be opened in a formal way on each day upon which commission business is
transacted.
(c) Scope of hearing.
The presiding officer may make a concise statement of the scope and the purpose
of the hearing and the issues involved at the beginning of the hearing.
(d) Appearances. Each attorney for
a party, and any other representative authorized by the commission according to
paragraph (3) of this subsection, shall enter an appearance by giving the
attorney's or representative's name and address for the record.
(1) Except as otherwise specified in
paragraph (2) of this subsection, any party may perform any of the following:
(A) Appear before the commission and be heard
in person and on that party's own behalf;
(B) appear before the commission and be
represented by an attorney who is regularly admitted to practice in the courts
of record of the state of Kansas; or
(C) appear before the commission and be
represented by any regularly admitted practicing attorney in the courts of
record of another state of the United States, if the nonresident attorney
complies with the requirements set forth in K.S.A. 7-104, and amendments
thereto. The local counsel shall first enter the local counsel's own appearance
and shall then orally move for the admission of the nonresident attorney with
whom local counsel is associated. The oath required by K.S.A. 7-104, and
amendments thereto, shall be administered to any nonresident attorneys by the
presiding officer. An oral order admitting them as attorneys or representatives
in the proceeding then pending shall be made by the presiding officer, and they
shall enter their appearances on the record.
(2) Except as otherwise specified in
paragraph (3) of this subsection, a corporation shall not be permitted to enter
an appearance, except by its attorney.
(3) In any intrastate railroad proceeding
that comes before the commission, a resident of the state of Kansas who is not
an attorney-at-law may represent a party before the commission if both of these
conditions are met:
(A) The person is a duly
registered with the relevant federal agency as a non-attorney practitioner who
is representing the person's permanent employer or is a duly elected officer of
a union representing a group of employees of a railroad.
(B) The person has obtained the approval of
the commission to appear as a representative upon a motion. The motion shall
include the individual's qualifications, the name of the party, and the
proceeding in which the individual wishes to appear.
(e) Preliminary matters.
Preliminary matters shall be disposed of in the following order:
(1) Petitions for intervention;
(2) any other pending petitions or motions;
(3) stipulations of the parties by
which parties may make written or oral stipulations in conformance with these
regulations. These stipulations shall be regarded as evidence at the hearing
and shall not be binding upon the commission; and
(4) opening statements of attorneys or other
representatives for the parties, if requested by the commission. Opening
statements, if any, shall be made immediately before the introduction of
testimony.
(f) Hearing
room conduct.
(1) The conduct of attorneys
and other representatives during a hearing shall be the same as the conduct
required of attorneys in the district courts of Kansas. Attorneys and other
representatives shall examine witnesses from a position at the counsel table,
except when handling exhibits. Anyone whose conduct before the commission is
deemed inappropriate may be refused permission to appear by the commission.
(2) Smoking shall not be permitted
on commission premises.
(3) The
use of photographic equipment or recording devices shall not be prohibited
during hearings, except that the presiding officer may regulate the use of this
equipment or these devices to insure the orderly conduct of the proceedings.
