1. (a) Method of service by parties in all cases other than those referred by PUC or TCEQ.

   1. (1) Service on all parties. On the same date a document is filed, a copy shall also be sent to each party or the party's authorized representative by hand-delivery; by regular, certified, or registered mail; by email, upon agreement of the parties; or by fax. By order, the judge may exempt a party from serving certain documents or materials on all parties.

   2. (2) Certificate of service. A person filing a document shall include a certificate of service that certifies compliance with this section.

      1. (A) A certificate of service shall be sufficient if it substantially complies with the following example: "Certificate of Service: I certify that on {date}, a true and correct copy of this {name of document} has been sent to {name of opposing party or authorized representative for the opposing party} by {specify method of delivery, e.g., regular mail, fax, certified mail.} {Signature}"

      2. (B) If a filing does not certify service, SOAH may:

         1. (i) return the filing;
         2. (ii) send a notice of noncompliance to all parties, stating the filing will not be considered until all parties have been served; or
         3. (iii) send a copy of the filing to all parties.

   3. (3) Presumed time of receipt of served documents. The following rebuttable presumptions shall apply regarding a party's receipt of documents served by another party:

      1. (A) If a document was hand-delivered to a party, the judge shall presume that the document was received on the date of filing at SOAH.
      2. (B) If a document was served by courier-receipted overnight delivery, the judge shall presume that the document was received no later than the next business day after filing at SOAH.
      3. (C) If a document was served by regular, certified, or registered mail, or non-overnight courier-receipted delivery, the judge shall presume that it was received no later than three days after mailing.
      4. (D) If a document was served by fax or email before 5:00 p.m. on a business day, the judge shall presume that the document was received on that day; otherwise, the judge shall presume that the document was received on the next business day.
   4. (4) Burden on sender. The sender has the burden of proving date and time of service.
2. (b) Method of service by parties in all cases referred by PUC or TCEQ. The procedural rules of the PUC and TCEQ govern the parties' service of documents in cases referred by those agencies.

3. (c) Service of SOAH-issued documents by email. Parties may be served all SOAH-issued orders, proposals for decision, decisions, and other SOAH-issued documents in each case to which the requestor is a party, by subscribing to SOAH's email service, subject to the following:

   1. (1) Parties must access SOAH's public website, enter the link "Request Email Service," and submit a completed consent form "Request to be Served by E-mail."
   2. (2) Parties requesting to be served SOAH-issued documents by email shall thereafter be served SOAH-issued documents only by email and shall no longer receive paper copies or any other form of service of such documents. Service of SOAH-issued documents by email applies to all SOAH dockets to which the requestor is a party.
   3. (3) Parties who request service of SOAH-issued documents by email waive any right to confidentiality of their email address, which is added to the public service list for each SOAH docket to which the requestor is a party and is viewable on SOAH's public website through SOAH's Case Information System.

   4. (4) Parties requesting to be served SOAH-issued documents by email shall:

      1. (A) maintain a current email address and provide that email address to SOAH through the consent form "Request to be Served by E-mail";
      2. (B) notify SOAH of any change to their email address in writing; and
      3. (C) ensure that email filters and settings allow the delivery of emails from SOAH.
   5. (5) Parties may rescind the election to be served SOAH-issued documents by email, but the rescission will not be effective until communicated to SOAH and all other parties in writing.
   6. (6) Service of SOAH-issued documents by email is not available for SOAH's non-public cases.
   7. (7) Requesting and consenting to service by email of SOAH-issued documents does not affect a party's duties to serve other parties with filings at SOAH as described in this subchapter.

Source Note:The provisions of this §155.105 adopted to be effective January 1, 2017, 41 TexReg 8593.