Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 291-2-.03 - Initial Hearings

(1) Should the initial review by the review panel determine that the complaint should be set down for a hearing, the review panel shall set a date and time for the hearing to be held. The review panel shall provide notice of the date and time of the hearing to both the complaining party and the applicable public agency or employee. The hearing shall be set for no earlier than thirty (30) days from the conclusion of the initial review.

(2) If either the complaining party or the applicable public agency or employee desires that the initial hearing be transcribed, they may do so upon arranging with the applicable court stenographer or court reporter to so transcribe the hearing. If both parties desire the initial hearing to be transcribed, they shall agree upon a mutually acceptable court stenographer or court reporter to transcribe the hearing, or, in the absence of an agreement on a mutually acceptable court stenographer or court reporter, the chair of the review panel shall determine which court stenographer or court reporter shall transcribe the hearing. The costs of the court stenographer or court reporter shall be born equally between the parties if both desire a court stenographer or reporter. The costs shall be born only by the requesting party if only one party desires a transcription of the hearing. All requests for transcription of the initial hearing shall be made in writing to the chair of the review panel by the requesting party and must be received no later than seven (7) days prior to the hearing. Requests must be sent to the mailing address of the IERB, to the attention of the chair of the review panel. If a party obtains a transcript of the hearing and that party subsequently files a sanction response or an appeal of either an initial decision or a sanction response, a true and correct copy of that transcript must be included as an attached exhibit to that filing.

(3) Upon motion by either the complaining party or the applicable public agency or employee, for good cause shown, the review panel may issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of and testimony by witnesses or the production of documents at the hearing. The party requesting the subpoena shall bear all costs related to service, witness fees, mileage, and other costs of attendance. Requests for issuance of subpoenas by either the complaining party or the applicable public agency or employee shall be made in writing to the chair of the review panel by the requesting party and must be received no later than fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing. Requests must be sent to the mailing address of the IERB, to the attention of the chair of the review panel. The review panel shall have the authority to issue subpoenas on its own motion to compel the attendance of and testimony by witnesses or the production of documents at the hearing, with the IERB bearing all costs related to service, witness fees, mileage, and other costs of attendance for any subpoenas issues on the motion of a review panel.

(4) Prior to any witness providing testimony to the review panel, the witness shall be administered an oath by the chair of the review panel or the designee of the chair swearing in the witness.

(5) Following the conclusion of the hearing, the review panel shall issue an initial decision, upon majority vote of the review panel, making a determination as to whether a violation of or failure to enforce an eligibility status provision has occurred. If the initial decision finds that there has been a violation of or failure to enforce an eligibility status provision, the initial decision shall set forth any remedial action deemed necessary by the review panel to correct the violation of or failure to enforce the eligibility status provision.

(6) The review panel shall provide service of the initial decision on both the complaining party and the applicable public agency or employee within sixty (60) days of the conclusion of the initial hearing.

Notes

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 291-2-.03

O.C.G.A. § 50-36-3, enacted by 2011 Ga. Laws 794, 814.

New Rule entitled "Initial Hearings" adopted. F. Jan. 20, 2012; eff. Feb. 9, 2012.