The ALJ will likely send you a notice scheduling the prehearing conference. Usually these conferences are held by telephone conference. Prehearing conferences are usually informal and are usually tape-recorded. There will always be a record of any hearing and there will usually be a record of a prehearing conference, either in transcript form or on an audio tape. Most hearings are recorded by tape recorder.
Some agencies use court reporters.
A party can have a court reporter instead of a tape recorder if they pay for it. Generally, after the hearing, the party requesting a copy of the record must pay for it. After a hearing, the party appealing the final agency decision must pay for a transcript to be provided to the courts. Copyright 2000 North Dakota Office of Administrative Hearings. All rights reserved.