- (a) All pleadings filed by any party relating to any contested proceeding pending or to be instituted before the department shall be filed with the hearings clerk, and if appropriate, the SOAH. A pleading shall be deemed filed only when actually received.
- (b) A copy of any pleading filed by any party in any proceeding, subsequent to the institution thereof, shall be mailed or otherwise delivered by the party filing the same to every other party, or such party's attorney of record not less than five days before the time specified for the hearing.
- (c) Deposit in the United States mail of a registered or certified letter, return receipt requested, or mailing by commercial carrier such as Federal Express, addressed to the affected party or the attorney of record for the party and sent to the party's last known address, or if a party is a licensee, the last address shown by the records of the department, or the attorney's last known address, shall constitute service of the pleading. The date of deposit as hereinabove provided is the date of the act, after which any designated period of time begins to run as provided in §1.6 of this title (relating to Computation and Enlargement of Time).
- (d) Service may also be accomplished by telephonic document transfer (fax). Service by telephonic document transfer is complete when sent to the recipient's current telecopier number. Service by telephonic document transfer after 5:00 p.m. local time of the recipient shall be deemed served on the following day.
- (e) The willful failure of any party to make such service shall be sufficient grounds for the entry of an order by the administrative law judge, striking the protest, reply, answer, motion, or other pleading from the record.
- (f) A certificate by the party, attorney, or representative who files a pleading, stating that it has been served on the other parties, shall be prima facie evidence of such service. The following form of certificate will be sufficient in this connection: "I hereby certify that a copy of this (state name of pleading) was sent by (state manner of service) to each addressee listed below on ________________________. Signature."
Source Note:The provisions of this §1.5 adopted to be effective January 18, 1991, 16 TexReg 113; amended to be effective August 3, 1993, 18 TexReg 4747; amended to be effective August 23, 1996, 21 TexReg 7656.