Section 185.83. Commission hearings

(a) The Commission may, by written order, designate one or more Commission members, the Executive Secretary, General Counsel or any other qualified person designated by the Commission as an officer to take testimony and conduct hearings under this section.

(b) The functions of the Commission member, officer or agent participating in hearings shall be conducted in an impartial manner. No such member, officer or agent shall consult any party on any fact in issue unless upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate. Any such Commission member, officer or agent may at any time withdraw from the proceeding if he deems himself disqualified, and upon the filing in good faith before the termination of the hearing of an affidavit of personal bias or disqualification of any such member, officer or agent, the Commission shall determine the matter as a part of the record and decision in the case. In the event of such withdrawal or disqualification, any other member, officer or agent if there be such participating in the hearing shall have the authority to complete the hearing and to participate in the decision.

(c) Members, officers or agents presiding at hearings shall have authority to:

(1) Administer oaths and affirmations.

(2) Issue subpoenas authorized by law.

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

(4) Take or cause depositions to be taken whenever the ends of justice would be served thereby.

(5) Regulate the course of the hearing.

(6) Hold conferences, where appropriate, for the settlement or simplification of issues by consent of the parties.

(7) Dispose of procedural requests or similar matters.

(8) Participate in making decisions.

(9) Take any other action authorized by this part.

(d) A decision shall be made and an adjudication issued thereon solely on the basis of the evidence introduced at the hearing.

(e) Proponents of the hearing shall have the burden of proof.

(f) Technical rules of evidence need not be followed at the hearing, but all testimony shall be taken under oath and all irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. Relevant documentary evidence shall not be received over objection unless reasonably authenticated or proved. In this connection, no written statement of an investigative agent shall be introduced over objection unless the agent who made such statement is present at the hearing and is available for cross-examination on the method of preparation of the statement and on the information contained therein.

(g) At any time after the service of process any party may serve upon any other party a written request for the admission of the genuineness of any relevant documents described in the request. Copies of the documents shall be delivered with the request unless copies have already been furnished. Each requested admission shall be deemed made unless within a period designated by the Commission and prominently marked upon the request which period shall not be less than ten days after service thereof, the party so served files with the Commission and serves upon the party making the request either a statement denying specifically the relevant matters on which an admission is requested or setting forth the reasons why he can neither truthfully admit nor deny them, or written objections on the ground that some or all of the matters involved are privileged or irrelevant or that the request is otherwise improper in whole or in part.

(h) Except as indicated below, the order of testimony will be at the discretion of the Commission member, officer or agent presiding at the hearing. In determining this order, he shall take into consideration the right of each party to present his case or defense by oral or documentary evidence, to submit rebuttal evidence and to conduct such cross-examination as may be required for a full and true disclosure of the facts, and the desirability of hearing witnesses at times convenient for them for purposes of their lodging and transportation. If at the close of the day of hearing it becomes evident that all witnesses cannot be heard, the hearings may be continued generally or to a day certain.

(i) The presiding Commission member, officer or agent may request every person desiring to testify or present argument at the hearing, to notify the Executive Secretary of the Commission in advance of the hearing of his intention to appear, and the approximate time his testimony or argument will occupy. Such presiding member, officer or agent may call any person he wishes to hear and may issue subpoenas to insure attendance.

(j) The Commission member, officer or agent presiding at the hearing may require or allow a factual statement of the position of any party in the case.

(k) Bills of particulars may be furnished or denied by the Commission in any matter, hearing or controversy pending before it.

(l) If, at the time and place scheduled for hearing, all parties to the record are not in attendance whether in person or by counsel, the matter may be heard ex parte.

(m) A licensee who shall have been cited to show cause why his license should not be suspended or revoked may waive in writing the hearing fixed thereon. Such waiver shall constitute an admission of the charges contained in the citation and an authorization to the Commission to enter without hearing such final order or decree as it shall deem appropriate. All such waivers by corporate licensees or unincorporated association licensees shall be in writing accompanied by a resolution under the seal of the corporation or association authorizing the submission of such waiver. Such waivers shall be in a form provided by the Commission. Such forms, as they appear in Appendix B, may be obtained at the offices of the Commission.

(n) Contemptuous conduct shall be grounds for exclusion from the hearing.

(o) Motions made during a hearing and objections with respect to the conduct of a hearing, including objection to the introduction of evidence, shall be stated orally and shall be included in the stenographic record of the hearing. Argument shall not be included in the stenographic record unless the Commission member, officer, or agent presiding at the hearing shall so direct.

(p) At the conclusion of the hearing all parties shall be afforded an opportunity thereafter to submit briefs and requests for findings of fact and conclusions of law prior to adjudication. Copies of any brief or requests so submitted shall be served upon all parties to the proceeding and proof thereof filed with the Commission. On the basis of such briefs or requests, any party may request oral argument before the Commission. Upon such request or upon his own motion, the Commission member, officer or agent presiding at the hearing, in his sole discretion, may order oral argument, upon due notice to all parties of the time and place of argument.

(q) Any petition for further hearing, for reopening or for rehearing, reconsideration or modification of a Commission order must be filed within the 30 day period allowed for an appeal from an adjudication and shall be in writing setting forth in numbered paragraphs the finding or orders of the Commission that may be involved, the points relied upon by the petitioner, appropriate record references, and specific requests for the findings or orders desired. If the petition be for further hearing or for reopening the proceeding to take further evidence, the nature and purpose of the evidence to be adduced must be briefly stated.

(r) The Commission may, and upon its own motion reopen a hearing after notice to all parties and take further testimony at any time in which the record is within its control.

(s) A record of all testimony and exhibits, together with all papers and requests filed in the proceeding, shall constitute an exclusive record for decision. The record may either be in the form of a written transcript or a recording of the proceedings preserved on tape, wire or other suitable recording device. The Commission shall not be required to make a written transcript of the recording unless an appeal is filed with the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County. The record, if transcribed or recorded, shall be available during reasonable business hours. In the event a party desires a written transcript, it shall be available at rates not to exceed the maximum rates fixed by contract between the Commission and the reporter. No partial transcripts or transcripts of uncompleted hearings shall be furnished. When any Commission decision rests on official notice of a material fact not appearing in the evidence in the record, any party shall on timely request be afforded an opportunity to show the contrary.

Notation

Cross References

This section cited in 58 Pa. Code § 185.84 (relating to decisions).