N.M. Admin. Code § 13.1.5.20 - CLOSED OR PUBLIC HEARING, SEALED RECORDS, AND DELIBERATIVE NOTES OF HEARING OFFICER

A. Closed hearings. Unless otherwise provided by law, ordered by the hearing officer for good cause, or required to prevent disclosure of confidential information, all hearings and the record are open to the public. Any party to a proceeding may submit a written request to close the hearing and the record to the public, which shall be granted if authorized by statute, regulation, or rules recognized by law to preserve confidentiality or to protect a party from harassment or reprisal. Any proceedings and records that involve an individual's medical issues shall be closed to the public.

B. Open hearings. If the hearing is open to the public, members of the public and the media may attend the hearing so long as they do not interrupt, interfere with or impede the orderly, fair, and efficient hearing process. With prior consent of the hearing officer, media members may record the proceeding from a fixed location in the hearing room. The hearing officer may direct any member of the public, including media members, to leave the proceeding if they engage in any conduct that interferes with the hearing officer's ability to maintain order, develop the record, and provide a fair and efficient hearing process. The proceedings shall be made available telephonically to members of the public, including the media, upon prior request.

C. Sealed records. Upon request of any party, and upon a showing of good cause, the hearing officer shall seal a particular exhibit, document, or portions of a witness's testimony from public disclosure if such items contain statutorily-protected confidential information, privileged information, or otherwise contain private identification information of a party or third party that is immaterial to a substantive issue in the proceeding or if its materiality is substantially outweighed by the prejudice of public release of the information. Upon issuance of an order sealing such documents or exhibits, these records shall remain under seal throughout the proceeding and shall be returned to the submitting party at the conclusion of the appeal period or the appeal. The opposing party shall be entitled to promptly review these documents in preparing for the hearing, and may rely on those documents during the hearing as necessary to ensure a fair hearing process; however, the opposing party shall not maintain its own copy of the sealed document after conclusion of the hearing nor reveal, discuss, or disclose the contents of these sealed documents to any other party outside of the hearing process.

D. Notes of deliberation. The hearing officer's notes taken during the course of the hearing, notes generated during the decision-making process, and any draft orders or draft decisions are confidential as part of the deliberative process and are not subject to public disclosure.

Notes

N.M. Admin. Code § 13.1.5.20

Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXX, Issue 12, June 25, 2019, eff. 7/1/2019