Section 325.21912. Presiding officer; powers and duties.

(1) A presiding officer shall have all powers necessary  or appropriate to conduct a fair, full, and impartial hearing, including the power to do all of the following:

(a)   Administer oaths and affirmations.

(b)   Rule upon offers of proof and receive relevant evidence.

(c)   Provide for the taking of testimony by deposition.

(d)   Regulate the course of the hearings, set the time and place for continued hearings, fix the time for the filing of briefs and other documents, and issue subpoenas.

(e)   Consider and rule upon procedural requests.

(f)   Hold conferences for the settlement or simplification of the issues by consent of the parties.

(g)   Prepare proposed decisions, if required.

(2) When a hearing officer believes that he or she is disqualified to preside over a particular hearing, he or she shall withdraw therefrom  by notice on the record directed to the director. A party who claims that a hearing officer should be disqualified to preside, or to continue to preside, over a particular hearing may timely file with the director a motion to disqualify. The motion shall be supported by affidavits setting forth the alleged grounds for disqualification. The director shall rule upon the motion, and the decision shall be determinative for purposes of the hearing.

History: 1981 AACS.