Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 16, 2024
(A) Ex parte communications.
(1) No party to an adjudication proceeding
shall engage in or encourage other persons to engage in ex parte communications
with the hearing examiner about any matter that is the subject of the
adjudication proceeding. The hearing examiner shall not entertain such
communications.
(2) No persons
identified in paragraphs (P)(1)(b) to (P)(1)(e) of rule
3745-47-02 of the Administrative
Code shall engage in or encourage other persons to engage in ex parte
communications with the director, the assistant director, or the deputy
directors about any matter that is the subject of the adjudication proceeding.
The director, the assistant director, and the deputy directors shall not
entertain such communications during the pendency of
the adjudication process.
(3)
The director, the assistant director, the deputy directors, and the hearing
examiner may participate in conferences or any other discussions in which all
the parties have a right to participate.
(B) All communications prohibited by
paragraph (A) of this rule shall be reported immediately to the hearing
examiner, who shall place the communication or a memorandum describing the
communication in public files associated with the case, but separate from the
record material upon which the agency will rely in reaching a decision. The
hearing examiner shall take such additional action as the hearing examiner
deems advisable.
(C) A hearing
examiner shall be disqualified upon the hearing examiner filing an affidavit
stating the reason for disqualification. A hearing examiner shall file a
disqualification affidavit for either of the following reasons:
(1) If for any reason the hearing examiner
may not be able to preside in a fair and impartial manner and render an
impartial report and recommendation to the director.
(2) If the hearing examiner receives, or has
during the previous two years received, ten per cent or more of the hearing
examiner's gross personal income for a calendar year from a party or any
subsidiary or owner thereof. For purposes of this paragraph, "party or any
subsidiary or owner thereof" does not include the state. The hearing examiner's
gross personal income includes retirement benefits, consultant fees, and stock
dividends, but does not include income from diversified investments where the
hearing examiner does not know the identity of the primary sources of
income.
(D) Hearing
examiners shall behave in the manner prescribed for judges generally in the
"Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct."
(E) It shall not be deemed a violation of
this rule if the director, in the performance of duties and functions other
than decision-making in an adjudication proceeding, gathers information or
expresses opinions on matters of fact or law that are the subject of any
adjudication proceeding.
