§3.44. Record. — Inbound Citations

Sections 3.43, 3.44, 3.45, and 3.46 of the Commission's Rules of Practice shall govern, respectively, the receipt and objections to admissibility of evidence, the transcript of the hearing, in camera orders and the submission and consideration of proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law except that (a) a copy of the hearing transcript shall be provided the respondent; and (b) the Commission has the burden of establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence on the record as a whole, the allegations stated in the order to show cause.

(f) A deposition may be corrected, as to form or substance, in the manner provided by § 3.44(b). Any such deposition shall, in addition to the other required procedures, be read to or by the deponent and signed by him or her, unless the parties by stipulation waive the signing or the deponent is unavailable or cannot be found or refuses to sign. If the deposition is not signed by the deponent within 30 days of its submission or attempted submission, the officer shall sign it and certify that the signing has been waived or that the deponent is unavailable or that the deponent has refused to sign, as the case may be, together with the reason for the refusal to sign, if any has been given. The deposition may then be used as though signed unless, on a motion to suppress under § 3.33(g)(2)(iv), the Administrative Law Judge determines that the reasons given for the refusal to sign require rejection of the deposition in whole or in part. In addition to and not in lieu of the procedure for formal correction of the deposition, the deponent may enter in the record at the time of signing a list of objections to the transcription of his or her remarks, stating with specificity the alleged errors in the transcript.

(c) Upon completion of the evidentiary hearing, the Administrative Law Judge shall issue an order closing the hearing record after giving the parties 3 business days to determine if the record is complete or needs to be supplemented. The Administrative Law Judge shall retain the discretion to permit or order correction of the record as provided in § 3.44(b).

(1) The Administrative Law Judge shall file a recommended decision within 70 days after the filing of the last filed initial or reply proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law and order pursuant to § 3.46, or within 85 days of the closing the hearing record pursuant to § 3.44(c) where the parties have waived the filing of proposed findings. The Administrative Law Judge may extend any of these time periods by up to 30 days for good cause. The Commission may further extend any of these time periods for good cause.