16 Tex. Admin. Code § 1.112 - Proceedings by Telephony

(a) The examiner may sua sponte or upon granting the timely written motion of a party order that all or part of a prehearing or posthearing conference or hearing be conducted by telephony.

(b) A party may file a motion to appear at a prehearing or posthearing conference or a hearing by telephony as follows:

(1) The motion shall be in writing, shall be filed with the Docket Services Section and served in accordance with § 1.45 of this title (relating to Service in Protested Contested Cases) not less than 10 days prior to the proceeding at which the party wishes to appear remotely, and shall include the pertinent telephone number(s) and/or other connection instructions.

(2) If the motion is to conduct only a portion of the proceeding by telephony, the requesting party shall identify the relevant portion of the proceeding to be conducted by telephony.

(3) Any reply to a motion shall be made in writing and shall be filed with the Docket Services Section and served in accordance with § 1.45 of this title within five days of service of the motion.

(4) Upon agreement of the parties or a finding of good cause, the examiner may modify the times for filing a motion for an appearance by telephony and/or replies to such a motion.

(c) Unless a timely objection is filed by another party, the examiner may grant the motion if:

(1) the moving party will not present any evidence as part of its direct case other than the oral testimony of that party or a single party representative; and

(2) the motion is to appear by telephony for which the Commission has all necessary equipment and technology.

(d) If a timely objection is filed, the objecting party has the burden of showing how the requested relief will unduly burden the proceeding or unfairly prejudice the objecting party.

(e) If the moving party will present any evidence other than the oral testimony of that party or a single party representative or requests a method of telephony for which the Commission does not have all necessary equipment and technology, and no timely objection is filed, the examiner shall consider the factors in subsection (f) of this section and issue a ruling on the motion. If a timely objection is filed, the moving party shall have the burden of showing that the requested relief will not unduly burden the proceeding or unfairly prejudice any party and the examiner shall issue a ruling taking into consideration the arguments of the parties and the factors in subsection (f) of this section.

(f) In considering whether conducting all or part of a prehearing or posthearing conference or hearing by telephony is feasible, the examiner shall ensure that the proceeding will provide due process and will be fair, and shall take into account the following factors:

(1) whether a party's request is timely;

(2) whether all parties to a protested proceeding have agreed in writing to conducting all or part of the proceeding by telephony;

(3) equipment and technology constraints;

(4) the number of parties;

(5) the number of witnesses;

(6) the number and type of exhibits;

(7) the distance of the parties or witnesses from Austin;

(8) the nature of the hearing;

(9) the testimony to be offered; and

(10) any other pertinent factors which may affect the proceeding.

(g) The examiner shall issue a ruling within a reasonable time period prior to the proceeding stating whether the proceeding will be conducted, in whole or in part, by telephony and serve prompt written notice of the ruling on all parties.

(h) The Commission may consider the following events to constitute a failure to appear and grounds for default or dismissal:

(1) failure to connect or answer for more than 10 minutes after the scheduled time for the proceeding;

(2) failure to be ready to proceed with the proceeding after 10 minutes of the scheduled time; and

(3) a party's intentional disconnection.

(i) In the event of accidental disconnection of one or more parties to the proceeding or other technical issues, the examiner shall immediately recess the hearing and attempt to re-establish the connection or connections.

Notes

16 Tex. Admin. Code § 1.112

Adopted by Texas Register, Volume 42, Number 33, August 18, 2017, TexReg 4137, eff. 8/21/2017