Illinois Administrative Code › Title 77 - PUBLIC HEALTH › Part 1130 - HEALTH FACILITIES AND SERVICES REVIEW OPERATIONAL RULES › Subpart J - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE IN ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS › Section 1130.1110 - Conduct of Hearings

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) All
				hearings conducted in any proceedings shall be open to the public.
b) Hearings shall commence and proceed with
				due diligence.
c) Hearings will be
				conducted by an administrative law judge, appointed by the HFSRB
				Chairman.
d) The administrative law
				judge shall conduct hearings; administer oaths; issue subpoenas; regulate the
				course of hearings; hold informal conferences for the settlement,
				simplification, or definition of issues; dispose of procedural requests,
				motions, and similar matters; continue the hearing from time to time when
				necessary; examine witnesses; and rule upon the admissibility of evidence and
				amendments to pleadings.
e) In a
				hearing to consider the denial of a permit or certificate of recognition, the
				applicant shall have the burden of establishing that the proposed project or
				application for certificate of recognition, as the case may be, for which
				application for permit or recognition is made is consistent with the standards,
				criteria, or plans adopted by HFSRB upon which the finding and decision of
				HFSRB were made; only testimony and evidence as are relevant shall be offered
				or accepted.
f) All parties to an
				administrative hearing shall have the right to give testimony, produce
				evidence, cross-examine adverse witnesses and present arguments relevant to the
				question of consistency and conformity of the proposed project with the adopted
				standards, criteria or plans upon which the finding and decision of HFSRB were
				made.
g) The administrative law
				judge shall direct all parties to enter their appearances on the
				record.
h) Parties may by
				stipulation agree upon any facts involved in the proceeding. The facts
				stipulated shall be considered as evidence in the proceeding. Unless precluded
				by law, disposition may be made of any contested case by stipulation, agreed
				settlement, consent order, or default.
i) At any stage of the hearing, or after all
				parties have completed the presentation of their evidence, HFSRB or its
				administrative law judge may call upon any party or the technical staff of
				HFSRB or other departments of State government or State Universities for
				further material or relevant evidence upon any issue. All parties at interest
				shall be afforded the right to present further evidence or material, or
				contradict the evidence or material presented, as per the provisions of the
				IAPA.
j) The rules of evidence and
				privilege as applied in civil cases in the Circuit Court of this State shall be
				followed. However, evidence not admissible under such rules of evidence may be
				admitted (except where precluded by statute) if it is of a type commonly relied
				upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs. Immaterial,
				irrelevant, unduly repetitious material shall be excluded. All admissible
				evidence shall be considered in accordance with its relative probative value in
				formulating the final decision of HFSRB and also in formulating the findings of
				fact and conclusions of law (if any) that support the decision. A copy of the
				whole or any part of an admissible book, record, paper, or memorandum of HFSRB
				staff that is made by photostatic or other method of accurate and permanent
				reproduction may be admitted in evidence at the hearing without further proof
				of the accuracy of such copy. When any material or relevant matter offered in
				evidence by any party is contained in a book, paper, or document containing
				other matter not material or relevant, the party offering the same shall
				plainly designate the matter. If, in the judgment of the administrative law
				judge, the immaterial or irrelevant matter would unnecessarily encumber the
				record, the book, paper, or document will not be received in evidence as a
				whole, but the material or relevant portions, if otherwise admissible, may be
				read into the record or entered as an exhibit. Objections to evidentiary offers
				may be made and shall be noted in the record. Any part of the evidence may be
				received in written form.
k)
				Official notice may be taken of matters of which Circuit Courts of this State
				may take judicial notice. In addition, official notice may be taken of
				generally recognized technical or scientific facts within HFSRB's specialized
				knowledge. Parties shall be notified either before or during the hearing, or by
				reference in preliminary reports or otherwise, of the material noticed,
				including any staff memoranda or data, and they shall be afforded an
				opportunity to contest the material so noticed. HFSRB's experience, technical
				competence and specialized knowledge may be used in the evaluation of
				evidence.
l) HFSRB's legal counsel
				and/or the Administrator will arrange for a certified stenographic reporter
				(court reporter) to make a stenographic record of the hearings in all
				administrative hearings under this Part. Any persons may make arrangements to
				obtain a copy of the stenographic record from the reporter.
m) Suggested corrections to the transcript of
				record may be offered within 10 days after the transcript is filed in the
				proceedings, unless the Director of IDPH or the administrative law judge
				permits suggested corrections to be offered thereafter. Suggested corrections
				shall be served upon or brought to the attention of such party whose appearance
				is of record or his/her attorney, the official reporter, and the administrative
				law judge. If suggested corrections are not objected to, the administrative law
				judge will direct the corrections to be made and the manner of making them. In
				case the parties disagree on suggested corrections, they may be heard by the
				administrative law judge, who shall then determine the manner in which the
				record shall be changed, if at all.
n) Written opening arguments and written
				closing arguments shall not be permitted unless all parties so
				stipulate.
o) Absent a showing of
				good cause, no document shall be offered into evidence that was not disclosed
				in accordance with the requirements in Section
				1130.1120, and no
				witness shall testify whose name was not provided pursuant to Section
				1130.1120. For purposes of this subsection, a showing of good cause shall mean
				that a party, through no fault of its own, did not have knowledge of a document
				to be offered into evidence or the name of a witness within the time frame
				necessary for compliance with Section 1130.1120.
p) If a party, or any person at the
				insistence of or in collusion with a party, violates any ruling of the
				administrative law judge, the administrative law judge, on motion, may enter
				such orders as are just, including, among others, the following:
1) that further proceedings be stayed until
				the order or rule is complied with;
2) that the offending party be barred from
				filing any other pleadings relating to any issue to which the refusal or
				failure relates;
3) that he or she
				be barred from maintaining any particular claim or defense relating to that
				issue;
4) that a witness be barred
				from testifying concerning that issue;
5) that, as to claims or defenses asserted in
				any pleading to which that issue is material, an order of default be entered
				against the offending party or that his or her pleading be dismissed without
				prejudice; or
6) that any portion
				of his or her pleadings relating to that issue be stricken and, if thereby made
				appropriate, judgment be entered as to the issue.