Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 1 - Provisions of General Application › 21j - Organization and Rules of Practice › III - RULES OF PRACTICE › Article 2 - CONTESTED CASES › Part 1 - Commencement, Complaint, Response, Parties, Intervention and Participation › Section 1-21j-29 - Procedure in response to complaint

Current through July 10, 2024
(a) The executive
					 director or his or her designee shall order a hearing at a designated time and
					 place for the purpose of conducting an investigation of the complaint as a
					 contested case. The executive director or his or her designee may issue an
					 order requiring the attendance of the complainant and all other parties at an
					 informal conference at a designated time and place prior to the hearing. As a
					 matter of policy, the commission shall strive to hear each contested case
					 within thirty (30) days after the commencement of the contested case and to
					 decide each such case within sixty (60) days after the conclusion of the
					 hearing therein, but in no event later than one (1) year after the filing of
					 the complaint. The commission shall give notice of the hearing in the form and
					 manner provided in section
					 1-21j-34 of
					 the regulations of Connecticut state agencies. Such notice shall be sent to the
					 public agency and public agency official against whom the complaint is
					 asserted, together with a copy of the complaint. The notice shall advise all
					 parties that the commission may provide the opportunity for an informal
					 conference prior to the formal hearing.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (b) of
					 section
					 1-21i of the general
					 statutes, this section or section
					 1-21j-34 a of
					 the regulations of Connecticut state agencies, the executive director or his or
					 her designee, to the extent possible, shall schedule each contested case for
					 hearing in the order in which it is received. To the extent possible, the
					 executive director or his or her designee shall accord priority in the
					 assignment for hearing of any contested case for which there is a timely
					 written request setting forth the reasons necessitating a hearing by a date
					 certain after which available remedies would no longer be adequate. The
					 executive director or his or her designee shall immediately review such request
					 together with the complaint and any other associated materials. The executive
					 director or his or her designee shall cause the complaint to be scheduled on a
					 priority basis if he or she believes:
(1) the
					 materials reviewed demonstrate that the complaint requires expedited treatment
					 because of an event or circumstance on a date certain after which date
					 available remedies would no longer be adequate; and
(2) the commission is able to render a final
					 decision by that date. A decision not to grant a priority assignment for
					 hearing may be appealed to the commission which shall consider the matter at
					 its next regular meeting. A decision to grant priority assignment may be
					 appealed to either the presiding officer, who shall consider the matter at the
					 hearing, or to the commission, which shall consider the matter at its next
					 regular meeting. Where such priority is granted, the executive director or his
					 or her designee shall assign the case for hearing at the earliest possible date
					 consistent with due process of law, but in no event later than thirty (30) days
					 after commencement of the contested case. Where such priority is granted, the
					 executive director or his or her designee also shall assign the case for final
					 decision at the earliest possible date consistent with due process of law, but
					 in no event later than sixty (60) days after the conclusion of the hearing
					 therein.