1. (a) A party to a benefit contested case hearing who is dissatisfied with the decision of the hearing officer may request the appeals panel to review that decision. The request shall:

   1. (1) be in writing;
   2. (2) clearly and concisely rebut each issue in the hearing officer's decision that the appellant wants reviewed, and state the relief the appellant wants granted;
   3. (3) be filed with the Chief Clerk of Proceedings in the commission's central office in Austin not later than the 15th day after receipt of the hearing officer's decision. Requests that are timely submitted to a commission location other than the Chief Clerk of Proceedings, such as a local field office of the commission, will be considered timely filed and forwarded to the commission's appeals panel for consideration, but this may result in delay in the processing of the request. Untimely requests, regardless of whether they are filed with the Chief Clerk of Proceedings in the commission's central office or in a different commission office, do not invoke the jurisdiction of the appeals panel and will not be reviewed by the appeals panel;
   4. (4) be served on the other party on the same day filed with the commission; and
   5. (5) contain a statement certifying that a copy has been served on the other party or parties in person, mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, or transmitted by verifiable means. A certificate in substantially the following form shall be used: "I hereby certify that I have on this ____ day of ____________, _____ , served a copy of the attached request for appeal on _______________________________ (state the name of the other party or parties on whom a copy was served) by _______________________________ (state the manner of service)." _______________________________ Signature
2. (b) If it is not clear from the request for review that the party has properly served a copy of the request on the other party or parties, the hearings division shall attempt to contact the other party or parties and, if the contact indicates that the other party or parties have not received a copy of the request, provide a copy of the request expeditiously.
3. (c) A party may make a conditional request for review by the appeals panel even if the overall contested case hearing decision is favorable. A timely request that indicates that the filing party seeks consideration only if the opposing party files a request for review will not be treated as a request for review unless an opposing party timely files a request. If an opposing party does file a timely request, the conditional request will be treated as a cross-appeal.

4. (d) The commission shall deem that the parties received the hearing officer's decision:

   1. (1) five days after the date the commission's letter was mailed to the parties, unless the great weight of evidence indicates otherwise;
   2. (2) the first working day after the date the written communication was placed in a carrier's Austin representative box located at the commission's main office in Austin unless the great weight of evidence indicates otherwise;
   3. (3) the working day that it was faxed by the commission, if faxed during normal business hours as defined in §102.3(c); otherwise, the next working day after the date faxed; or
   4. (4) the working day that it was electronically transmitted by the commission, if transmitted during normal business hours as defined in §102.3(c); otherwise, the next working day after the date electronically transmitted.

5. (e) A request made under this section shall be presumed to be timely filed or timely served if it is:

   1. (1) mailed on or before the 15th day after the date of receipt of the hearing officer's decision, as provided in subsection (a) of this section; and
   2. (2) received by the commission or other party not later than the 20th day after the date of receipt of the hearing officer's decision.
6. (f) Saturdays and Sundays and holidays listed in Section 662.003, Government Code, are not included in the computation of the time in which a request for an appeal must be filed.

Source Note:The provisions of this §143.3 adopted to be effective March 7, 1991, 16 TexReg 1195; amended to be effective December 31, 1991, 16 TexReg 7358; amended to be effective March 14, 2001, 26 TexReg 2032; amended to be effective May 9, 2004, 29 TexReg 4223.