Iowa Code r. 193-7.26 - Evidence

(1) The presiding officer will rule on admissibility of evidence and may, where appropriate, take official notice of facts in accordance with all applicable requirements of law.

(2) Stipulation of facts is encouraged. The presiding officer may make a decision based on stipulated facts.

(3) Evidence in the proceeding will be confined to the issues as to which the parties received notice prior to the hearing unless the parties waive their right to such notice or the presiding officer determines that good cause justifies expansion of the issues. If the presiding officer decides to admit evidence on issues outside the scope of the notice over the objection of a party who did not have actual notice of those issues, that party, upon timely request, will receive a continuance sufficient to amend pleadings and to prepare on the additional issue.

(4) The party seeking admission of an exhibit will provide opposing parties with an opportunity to examine the exhibit prior to the ruling on its admissibility. Copies of documents will be provided to opposing parties. Copies will also be furnished to members of the board. All exhibits admitted into evidence will be appropriately marked and be made part of the record. The state's exhibits will be marked numerically, and the applicant's or respondent's exhibits will be marked alphabetically.

(5) Any party may object to specific evidence or may request limits on the scope of any examination or cross-examination. Such an objection needs to be timely and be accompanied by a brief statement of the grounds upon which it is based. The objection, the ruling on the objection, and the reasons for the ruling will be noted in the record. The presiding officer may rule on the objection at the time it is made or may reserve a ruling until the written decision.

(6) Whenever evidence is ruled inadmissible, the party offering that evidence may submit an offer of proof on the record. The party making the offer of proof for excluded oral testimony will briefly summarize the testimony or, with permission of the presiding officer, present the testimony. If the excluded evidence consists of a document or exhibit, it will be marked as part of an offer of proof and inserted in the record.

(7) Irrelevant, immaterial and unduly repetitious evidence should be excluded. A finding will be based upon the kind of evidence upon which reasonably prudent persons are accustomed to rely for the conduct of their serious affairs, and may be based on hearsay or other types of evidence that may or would be inadmissible in a jury trial.

Notes

Iowa Code r. 193-7.26

ARC 8091C, IAB 7/10/24, effective 8/14/24

Amended by IAB October 12, 2016/Volume XXXIX, Number 08, effective 11/16/2016 Adopted by IAB July 10, 2024/Volume XLVII, Number 1, effective 8/14/2024