Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 590 - RULES OF OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE › Chapter 590-3 - CEMETERIES, PRENEED DEALERS, AND MERCHANDISE DEALERS › Subject 590-3-7 - ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS › Rule 590-3-7-.16 - Evidence; Official Notice

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1) Pursuant to the APA, the Hearing Officer
				shall apply the rules of evidence as applied in the trial of civil nonjury
				cases in the superior courts and may, when necessary to ascertain facts not
				reasonably susceptible of proof under such rules, consider evidence not
				otherwise admissible thereunder if it is of a type commonly relied upon by
				reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs (preponderance of
				the evidence). At the discretion of the Hearing Officer, such evidence that may
				be admitted includes the following:
(a)
				records, reports, statements, plats, maps, charts, surveys, studies, analyses,
				or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies, setting forth
				(i) the activities of the office or agency, or (ii) matters observed pursuant
				to duty imposed by law as to which matters there was a duty to report, or (iii)
				factual findings resulting from an investigation or research not performed in
				conjunction with the matter being heard and carried out pursuant to authority
				granted by law, unless its probative value cannot be determined or it lacks
				trustworthiness due to the sources of information or other
				circumstances;
(b) reports,
				records, statements, plats, maps, charts, surveys, studies, analyses, or data
				compilations after testimony by an expert witness that the expert witness
				prepared such document and that it is correct to the best of the expert
				witness's knowledge, belief and expert opinion;
(c) to the extent called to the attention of
				an expert witness upon cross-examination or relied upon by the expert witness
				in direct examination, statements contained in published treatises,
				periodicals, or pamphlets on a subject of history, medicine, or other science
				or art, established as a reliable authority by the testimony or admission of
				the witness or by other expert testimony or by official notice;
(d) any medical, psychiatric, or
				psychological evaluations, or scientific or technical reports, records,
				statements, plats, maps, charts, surveys, studies, analyses, or data
				compilations of a type routinely submitted to, and relied upon by, the
				Secretary of State in the normal course of his or her business; and
(e) documentary evidence in the form of
				copies, if the original is not readily available, if its use would unduly
				disrupt the records of the possessor of the original, or by agreement of the
				parties. Upon request, parties shall have an opportunity to compare the copy
				with the original. Documentary evidence may also be received in the form of
				excerpts, charts, or summaries when, in the discretion of the Hearing Officer,
				the use of the entire document would unnecessarily add to the record's length.
				The entire document shall be made available for examination or copying, or
				both, by other parties at a reasonable time and place.