North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 21 - OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS › Chapter 42 - OPTOMETRY › Subchapter L - ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS: CONTESTED CASES › Section 42L .0112 - SUBPOENAS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) Requests for
				subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses or for the production
				of documents, either at a hearing or for the purposes of discovery, shall be
				made in writing to the Board, shall identify any document sought with
				specificity, and shall include the full name and home or business address of
				all persons to be subpoenaed and, if known, the date, time, and place for
				responding to the subpoena. The President or the Secretary of the Board shall
				issue the requested subpoenas within three days of receipt of the
				request.
(b) Subpoenas shall
				contain: the caption of the case; the name and address of the person
				subpoenaed; the date, hour and location of the hearing in which the witness is
				commanded to appear; a particularized description of the books, papers, records
				or objects the witness is directed to bring with him to the hearing, if any;
				the identity of the party on whose application the subpoena was issued; the
				date of issue; the signature of the presiding officer or his designee; and a
				"return of service". The "return of service" form, as filled out, shows the
				name and capacity of the person serving the subpoena, the date on which the
				subpoena was delivered to the person directed to make service, the date on
				which service was made, the person on whom service was made, the manner in
				which service was made, and the signature of the person making
				service.
(c) Subpoenas may be
				served by the sheriff or other proper official of the county in which the
				person subpoenaed resides when the party requesting such subpoena prepays the
				sheriff's service fee. The subpoena shall be issued in duplicate, with a
				"return of service" form attached to each copy. A person serving the subpoena
				shall fill out the "return of service" form for each copy and properly return
				one copy of the subpoena, with the attached "return of service" form completed,
				to the Board.
(d) Any person
				receiving a subpoena from the Board may object thereto by filing a written
				objection to the subpoena with the Board's office.
(e) Such objection shall include a concise,
				but complete, statement of reasons why the subpoena should be revoked or
				modified. These reasons may include lack of relevancy of the evidence sought,
				or any other reason sufficient in law for holding the subpoena invalid, such as
				that the evidence is privileged, that appearance or production would be so
				disruptive as to be unreasonable in light of the significance of the evidence
				sought, or other undue hardship.
(f) Any such objection to a subpoena must be
				served on the party who requested the subpoena simultaneously with the filing
				of the objection with the Board.
(g) The party who requested the subpoena,
				within such time as may be granted by the Board, may file a written response to
				the objection. The written response shall be served by the requesting party on
				the objecting witness simultaneously with filing the response with the
				Board.
(h) After receipt of the
				objection and response thereto, if any, the Board shall issue a notice to the
				party who requested the subpoena and the party challenging the subpoena, and
				may notify any other party or parties of an open hearing, to be scheduled as
				soon as practicable, at which evidence and testimony may be presented, limited
				to the narrow questions raised by the objection and response.
(i) Promptly after the close of such hearing,
				a majority of the Board members hearing the contested case will rule on the
				challenge and issue a written decision. A copy of the decision will be issued
				to all parties and made a part of the record.
Authority
				  G.S.
				  90-117.4;
				  90-117.5;
				  150B-11;
				  150B-38;
				  150B-40;
Eff. June
				  1, 1989;
Renumbered from
				  21 NCAC
				  42L .0011 Eff. April 1, 1993;
Pursuant to
				  G.S.
				  150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without
				  substantive public interest Eff. May 23,
				  2015.