Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
(1)
(a) The Executive Secretary shall appoint a
hearing officer to chair the hearing panel and conduct the hearing.
(b) The Executive Secretary shall select a
hearing officer on a random basis from a list of available contracted hearing
officers, subject to availability and conflict of interest.
(c) The Executive Secretary shall provide
such information about the case as necessary to determine whether the hearing
officer has a conflict of interest and shall disqualify any hearing officer
that cannot serve under the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct.
(d) A hearing officer:
(i) may require the parties to submit a brief
and a list of witnesses prior to the hearing;
(ii) presides at the hearing and regulates
the course of the proceeding;
(iii)
administers an oath to a witness as follows: "Do you swear or affirm that the
testimony you will give is the truth?";
(iv) may take testimony, rule on a question
of evidence, and ask a question of a witness to clarify a specific issue;
and
(v) prepares and submits a
hearing report to the Executive Secretary at the conclusion of the proceedings
in consultation with panel members and the timelines of this rule.
(2)
(a) UPPAC shall select three or more
individuals to serve as members of the hearing panel.
(b) The majority of panel members shall be
current UPPAC members.
(c) As
directed by UPPAC, a licensed educator or member of the community may serve as
a panel member, if needed.
(d)
UPPAC shall select panel members on a rotating basis to the extent
practicable.
(e) UPPAC shall
accommodate each prospective panel member based on the availability of the
panel member.
(f) If the respondent
is a teacher, at least one panel member shall be a current classroom
teacher.
(g) If the respondent is a
non-teacher licensed educator, at least one panel member shall be a non-teacher
licensed educator.
(3)
The requirements of Subsection (2) may be waived only upon the stipulation of
both the UPPAC attorney and the respondent.
(4)
(a) A
UPPAC panel member shall:
(i) assist a
hearing officer by providing information concerning professional standards and
practices of educators in the respondent's particular field of practice and in
the situations alleged;
(ii) ask a
question of a witness to clarify a specific issue;
(iii) review all evidence and briefs, if any,
presented at the hearing;
(iv) make
a recommendation to UPPAC as to the suggested disposition of a complaint;
and
(v) assist the hearing officer
in preparing the hearing report.
(b) A panel member may only consider the
evidence approved for admission by the hearing officer.
(c) The Executive Secretary may make an
emergency substitution of a panel member for good cause shown or with the
consent of the parties.
(d) An
agreement to substitute a panel member shall be in writing.
(e) Parties may agree to a two-member UPPAC
panel in an emergency situation.
(5)
(a) A
party may request that the Executive Secretary disqualify a hearing officer by
submitting a written request for disqualification to the Executive
Secretary.
(b) A party shall submit
a request to disqualify a hearing officer to the Executive Secretary at least
15 days before a scheduled hearing.
(6)
(a) The
Executive Secretary shall review a request described in Subsection (5) and
supporting evidence to determine whether the reasons for the request are
substantial and compelling.
(b) If
the Executive Secretary determines that the hearing officer should be
disqualified, the Executive Secretary shall appoint a new hearing officer and,
if necessary, reschedule the hearing.
(7) A hearing officer may recuse himself or
herself from a hearing if, in the hearing officer's opinion, the hearing
officer's participation would violate any of the Utah Rules of Professional
Conduct consistent with the Supreme Court Rules of Professional
Practice.
(8)
(a) If the Executive Secretary denies a
request to disqualify a hearing officer described in Subsection (5), the
Executive Secretary shall notify the party within ten days prior to the date of
the hearing.
(b) The requesting
party may submit a written appeal of the Executive Secretary's denial to the
Superintendent no later than five days prior to the hearing date.
(c) If the Superintendent finds that the
appeal is justified, the Superintendent shall direct the Executive Secretary to
appoint a new hearing officer and, if necessary, reschedule the
hearing.
(d) The decision of the
Superintendent described in Subsection (8)(c) is final.
(e) If a party fails to file an appeal within
the time requirements of Subsection (8)(b), the appeal shall be deemed
denied.
(f) If the Executive
Secretary fails to meet the time requirements described in Subsection (6) or
(8), the request or appeal is approved.
(9)
(a) A
UPPAC member shall recuse himself or herself as a panel member due to any known
financial or personal interest, prior relationship, personal and independent
knowledge of the persons or issues in the case, or other association that the
panel member believes would compromise the panel member's ability to make an
impartial decision.
(b) A party may
request that a UPPAC panel member be disqualified by submitting a written
request to the hearing officer.
(c) A party shall submit a request described
in Subsection (9)(b) no less than 15 days before a scheduled hearing.
(d) The hearing officer shall:
(i) review a request described in Subsection
(9)(b) and supporting evidence to determine whether the reasons for the request
are substantial and compelling enough to disqualify the panel member;
and
(ii) if the reasons for the
request described in Subsection (9)(b) are substantial and compelling,
disqualify the panel member.
(e) If a panel member is disqualified:
(i) UPPAC shall appoint a replacement; and
(ii) the Executive Secretary
shall, if necessary, reschedule the hearing.
(f) If a request described in Subsection
(9)(b) is denied, the hearing officer, shall notify the party requesting the
panel member's disqualification no less than ten days prior to the date of the
hearing.
(10) The
Executive Secretary may, at the time the Executive Secretary selects a hearing
officer or panel member, select an alternative hearing officer or panel member
following the process for selecting those individuals.
(11) The Executive Secretary may substitute a
panel member with an alternative panel member if the Executive Secretary
notifies the parties of the substitution.