Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) The administrative law judge shall
conduct all proceedings in a fair and impartial manner.
(b) The administrative law judge shall not
communicate directly or indirectly in connection with any issue that relates in
any way to the merits of a pending adjudicatory proceeding with any party
except upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate.
(c) The administrative law judge shall have
the power to:
(1) rule upon applications and
requests, including requests for adjournments;
(2) set the date, time and place of the
hearing;
(3) administer oaths and
affirmations;
(4) issue subpoenas
requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and production of books,
records, and other evidence;
(5)
examine witnesses;
(6) admit and
exclude evidence;
(7) limit the
number of times any witness may testify, repetitious examination or
cross-examination, and the amount of corroborative or cumulative
testimony;
(8) request and/or hear
oral arguments;
(9) request written
arguments; and
(10) take necessary
measures for the maintenance of order and the efficient conduct of the hearing,
and conduct the hearing in accordance with the requirements of due
process.
(d)
Consolidation and severance.
(1) In
proceedings that involve common questions of fact, the administrative law judge
may, upon his or her own initiative or upon application of any party, order
consolidation or a joint hearing of any or all issues to avoid unnecessary
delay and cost; the parties shall have the opportunity to be heard prior to
issuance of such order.
(2) The
administrative law judge may order a severance of a part or parts of the
hearing and hear separately any issue in the proceeding to avoid prejudice or
inconvenience.
(e)
Adjournments.
(1) A request for an
adjournment of the hearing shall be made to the administrative law judge at
least three days prior to the commencement of the hearing, except for good
cause shown.
(2) Adjournments may
be granted by the administrative law judge for good cause.
(3) All parties shall be notified of
adjournments to a specified date, time and place.
(f) The administrative law judge shall not be
bound by the rules of evidence observed by courts, except the rules of
privilege recognized by law.
(g)
The administrative law judge may take judicial notice of all facts of which
judicial notice could be taken and of other facts within the specialized
knowledge of the agency. When official notice is taken of a material fact not
appearing in the evidence in the record and of which judicial notice could not
be taken, every party shall be given notice thereof and shall on timely request
be afforded an opportunity prior to decision to dispute the fact of its
materiality.
(h) No administrative
law judge shall preside over a proceeding in which such judge has any interest
in or bias with respect to the matters involved in the proceeding or a conflict
of interest with respect to the parties.
(1)
If a party has a good faith basis to believe that an administrative law judge
cannot render a fair and impartial decision in a particular case, such party
may request that the administrative law judge recuse himself or herself. Such
request must be in writing and include an affidavit indicating the specific
grounds on which the party claims interest or bias.
(2) Grounds for recusal of an administrative
law judge include that the administrative law judge has previously dealt with
the substance of the matter which is the subject of the hearing except in the
capacity of administrative law judge; or has any interest in the matter,
financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, which may impair the independent
judgment of the administrative law judge; or has displayed bias or partiality
to any party to the hearing.
(3)
The administrative law judge may independently determine to remove himself or
herself from presiding at a hearing on the grounds set forth in paragraph two
of this subdivision.
(4) Upon
receipt of a request for recusal, the administrative law judge shall rule on
the request. If the administrative law judge denies the request for recusal, a
written decision shall be issued stating the reasons for his or her decision
and a copy of the decision shall be provided to all parties.
(5) A ruling by the administrative law judge
denying a request for recusal may be appealed to the executive director at the
conclusion of the hearing.
