1. (a) Record of proceedings. A record will be made of all contested case proceedings. At the judge's discretion, the making of a record of a prehearing conference may be waived. The actions taken at the prehearing conference may instead be reflected in a written order.
2. (b) Court reporters. Unless otherwise ordered by the judge, the referring agency shall provide a court reporter for any proceeding set to last longer than one day.
3. (c) SOAH's responsibility. For any proceeding in a docket set to last no longer than one day, SOAH is responsible for making a recording of the proceeding unless otherwise ordered by the judge.
4. (d) Official record. The recording made by SOAH under subsection (c) of this section or the transcript prepared under subsection (e) of this section is the official record of the proceeding for purposes of all actions within SOAH's jurisdiction. The judge may order a different means of making a record and may designate that record as the official record of the proceeding.

5. (e) Transcripts. The court reporter shall make a stenographic record of the proceeding but shall prepare a transcript only on the request of a party or the judge. If a proceeding lasts longer than one day, the judge may order that a transcript be prepared. Costs of a transcript ordered by any party ordinarily shall be paid by that party. If SOAH has recorded the proceeding, the referring agency shall inform SOAH of the need to deliver a copy of the original recording to a court reporter.

   1. (1) The original transcript shall be filed with SOAH.
   2. (2) The transcript prepared according to these procedures becomes the official record of the proceedings for purposes of all actions within SOAH's jurisdiction.
   3. (3) Proposed written corrections of purported transcript errors must be filed with SOAH and served on the parties and the court reporter before issuance of the proposal for decision or final decision. The judge may establish deadlines for the filing of proposed corrections and responses. The transcript will be corrected only upon order of the judge.

6. (f) Maintenance of exhibits and official record. The judge shall maintain all exhibits admitted during the proceeding and the official record of the proceeding.

   1. (1) The judge may allow the court reporter to retain the exhibits and the recording of the proceeding, if applicable, while a transcript is being prepared.

   2. (2) The judge may retain the exhibits and transcript or recording to prepare for presentation of the proposal for decision to the referring agency. SOAH will send the exhibits and transcript or recording to the referring agency no later than after:

      1. (A) the judge has issued the final decision;
      2. (B) the judge has issued the proposal for decision and the deadline for filing exceptions and replies has passed.

7. (g) Sealing records. The judge may order all or part of the record sealed in accordance with applicable law or rule or upon a showing of the following:

   1. (1) a specific, serious, and substantial interest that clearly outweighs the presumption of openness that applies to SOAH's records;
   2. (2) any probable adverse effect that sealing will have upon the public health or safety; and
   3. (3) no less restrictive means than sealing the records will adequately and effectively protect the specific interest asserted.

Source Note:The provisions of this §155.423 adopted to be effective November 26, 2008, 33 TexReg 9451.