SECTION 310:2-3-6. Office of Administrative Hearings

(a)   Session hours. Unless otherwise ordered by the assigned administrative law judge, the morning sessions shall begin at 9:00 a.m. and close at 12:00 noon, and the afternoon sessions shall begin at 1:30 p.m. and close at 4:30 p.m.

(b)   Chief Administrative Law Judge. The Chief Administrative Law Judge is the administrative officer for the Office of Administrative Hearings and shall perform all duties that the Commissioner may delegate or assign. The Chief Administrative Law Judge may assign administrative law judges to conduct individual proceedings or other hearings, or specific activities within proceedings and hearings. The Chief Administrative Law Judge shall have the discretion to issue non-dispositive orders including the scheduling of conferences and pre-hearing conferences, orders on non-dispositive motions, and orders for the conduct of the proceedings in general or in a specific proceeding.

(c)   Assigned administrative law judge. The administrative law judge shall have complete authority to conduct the proceedings and may take any action not inconsistent with the provisions of the rules of this Chapter or of the APA for the maintenance of order at hearings and for the expeditious, fair, and impartial conduct of the proceedings. The assigned administrative law judge may also:

(1)   arrange and issue notice of the date, time and place of hearings and conferences;

(2)   establish the methods and procedures to be used in the presentation of the evidence;

(3)   hold conferences to settle, simplify, determine, or strike any of the issues in a hearing, or to consider other matters that may facilitate the expeditious disposition of the hearing;

(4)   administer oaths and affirmations;

(5)   regulate the course of the hearing and govern the conduct of participants;

(6)   examine witnesses;

(7)   rule on, admit, exclude and limit evidence;

(8)   establish the time for filing motions, testimony, and other written evidence, briefs, findings, and other submissions, and hold the record open for such purposes;

(9)   rule on motions and other pending procedural matters; and

(10)   divide the hearing into stages or combine interests of parties whenever the number of parties is large or the issues are numerous and complex.

(d)   Hearing Clerk. The Hearing Clerk is the person designated by the Commissioner to assist the Chief Administrative Law Judge and maintain the administrative hearing files and dockets within the Office of Administrative Hearings.

[Source: Amended at 12 Ok Reg 2271, eff 6-26-95; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1896, eff 6-25-07]