- (a) A hearing examiner, upon the accepted motion of any interested person, shall waive any procedural requirement or limitation imposed by this chapter upon reasonable notice to affected persons when it appears that the proposed waiver or suspension is lawful, and would be more likely to promote the fair, accurate and efficient resolution of issues properly pending before the hearing examiner than would adherence to particular procedural rules or requirements. A motion for waiver or suspension of a procedural rule or order shall fully set forth the reasons for the requested relief.
- (b) Notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, during a state of emergency declared by the governor, a hearing examiner, with consent of all parties shall waive the personal appearance requirement and permit appearance at a hearing by telephone, video conference, or other.
(c) If all parties do not agree to the presence of a party or the examination of a witness by telephone, video conference, or other means, the hearing examiner shall allow the presence of a party or the ability of a witness to testify by telephone, video conference, or other means upon a finding of exigent circumstances, such as but not limited to the following:
- (1) Economic hardship;
- (2) Illness;
- (3) Incarceration;
- (4) Safety of any party or member of the public; or
- (5) It would be inequitable to deny the requesting party use of telephone, video conference, or other.
- (d) If the hearing examiner determines that either party shall be substantially disadvantaged by presenting their case by telephone, video conference, or other means, the hearing shall be by live testimony.
Source. #8230-A, eff 12-17-04; amd by #13004, EMERGENCY RULE, eff 3-17-20, EXPIRES: 9-13-20; ss by #13096, eff 8-28-20