Nebraska Administrative Code › Topic - RACING COMMISSION, STATE › Title 294 - RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING HORSE RACING › Chapter 6 - DISCIPLINARY ACTION AND HEARINGS BEFORE THE STEWARDS › Section 294-6.001 - HEARING PROCEDURES IN GENERAL

Current through June 17, 2024
(1) The hearing
				procedures set forth in chapter 6 apply to hearings heard by the stewards on a
				charge of a violation of a rule, except that any claim charging a violation
				arising out of investigative or enforcement activity committed by a steward, a
				Racing Commission investigative or enforcement officer, or an employee or agent
				of an association engaged in investigative or security work may be heard only
				in a sanctions enforcement hearing pursuant to Chapter 7.002.
(2) The hearing procedures set forth in Rule
				6.001 apply to all stewards hearings.
(3) A charge of rule violation may be made by
				a steward, a Racing Commission investigative or enforcement officer, a person
				designated by the Racing Commission, or any other person who has information
				regarding a rule violation. A charge of rule violation shall be made to a
				steward or to a Racing Commission investigative or enforcement officer who
				shall report such charge to a steward.
(4) The person presenting the case against a
				charged person shall be known as the case presenter and may be a Racing
				Commission investigative or enforcement officer or a person designated by the
				Racing Commission. A case presenter may testify at a stewards
				hearing.
6.001.01 PRE-HEARING
				REQUIREMENTS
(1) When the stewards receive a
				report of a rule violation, they shall orally notify the charged person of the
				substance of the charge and the time and place of the hearing, if scheduled,
				and shall either provide written notice at that time or designate a time and
				place when the charged person may pick up written notice of the charge and
				hearing. Failure of a charged person to appear to pick up written notice shall
				not constitute an excuse for failure to appear at the hearing. In the event the
				stewards are unable to find the charged person to provide oral notification,
				the stewards shall mail written notice by registered or certified mail to the
				local and/or permanent address on the charged person's license
				application.
(2) Written notice of
				a charge shall give the time and place of the hearing, shall contain a
				statement of the nature of the charges, and shall cite by number the statutes
				or rules alleged to have been violated.
(3) The stewards may immediately subject a
				person charged with a rule violation to intermediate penalty not involving
				exclusion from association grounds or license suspension. The stewards may
				immediately exclude a person from the grounds of an association or suspend his
				license when they have reasonable suspicion that the person poses a physical
				danger to himself, other persons, or animals or otherwise poses a substantial
				danger to the security, safety, and health conditions at racing meetings or to
				the integrity of horseracing. The decision to suspend a license under this
				paragraph may be made by the starter and affirmed by the stewards. The decision
				to suspend shall be promptly reported in writing to the Racing Commission and
				the Racing Secretary by the official who originally imposed the suspension. The
				decision to exclude may be made in the first instance by the stewards or they
				may affirm a decision made by the starter, a Racing Commission investigative or
				enforcement officer, or other person designated by the Racing
				Commission.
(4) When an
				intermediate penalty is imposed, a hearing must be held within 72 hours unless
				the charged person requests a continuance; an intermediate penalty is not
				stayed by a continuance. Except for such request for continuance or for cases
				covered under Rule
				6.005, in all other cases a hearing
				must be held within 72 hours unless either the charged person or the case
				presenter requests a continuance. The stewards shall grant a continuance unless
				they find that there is no good cause for the request or that serious and undue
				prejudice will result from the delay.
(5) The presence of all the stewards or their
				appointed deputies is required at stewards hearings.