New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 6 - PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION › Chapter 68 - SCHOOL PERSONNEL - DENIAL, SUSPENSION, AND REVOCATION OF LICENSE › Part 3 - SUSPENSION, REVOCATION OR OTHER DISCIPLINARY ACTION REGARDING A LICENSE HELD BY A LICENSED SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL › Section 6.68.3.11 - HEARING

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. Purpose: The
				purpose of the hearing shall be to determine whether sufficient grounds exist
				for the suspension, revocation or other disciplinary action against the license
				or certificate held by a licensed school instructor, administrator or any other
				of the individuals enumerated in Section
				22-10A-3
				A, NMSA 1978. The burden of proof shall be upon the department to establish by
				a preponderance of the evidence that sufficient grounds exist.
B. Venue of hearing: The hearing shall be
				conducted in the county in which the licensee resides, or at the election of
				the department, in any county in which the act or acts complained of occurred.
				In any case, however, the licensee and the department may agree that the
				hearing is to be held in some other county.
C. Conduct of hearings
(1) The order of presentation of evidence
				shall be as follows: The department shall present evidence in an attempt to
				establish that sufficient grounds exist for the suspension, revocation or other
				disciplinary action against the licensee's license. Thereafter, the licensee
				may present evidence in defense. The hearing officer may allow rebuttal
				evidence and/or closing arguments.
(2) The rules of civil procedure and the
				rules of evidence shall not apply to the hearing, except as specifically
				provided in this regulation, but it shall be conducted so that both complaints
				and defenses are amply and fairly presented. To this end, the hearing officer
				shall permit each party to call and examine witnesses, cross-examine witnesses
				and introduce exhibits. Documentary evidence may be received in the form of
				copies or excerpts. Evidence will be admitted without regard to technical rules
				of evidence, but the hearing officer may exclude any evidence, which is not
				relevant to the issues and may require reasonable substantiation of statements
				or records where accuracy or truth is in reasonable doubt. Any evidence may be
				admitted that is of a kind commonly relied on by reasonably prudent people in
				the conduct of serious affairs. The hearing officer may in his or her
				discretion exclude incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious
				evidence. Rules of privilege shall be applicable to the same extent as in
				proceedings before the courts of this state. Parties or their attorneys may
				make timely objections to the introduction of any evidence they view as
				inadmissible under this paragraph.
(3) A complete record shall be made of all
				evidence received during the course of the hearing. The record shall be
				preserved by any stenographic method in use in the district courts of this
				state, or in the discretion of the department, by tape recording. The
				department shall observe any standards pertaining to tape recordings
				established for the district courts. In any event, the department shall have
				one copy of the transcript or tape recording of the hearing for the secretary's
				review in rendering a final decision. Where judicial review is sought, the
				costs of required transcripts or tape recordings shall be paid by the party
				seeking review.
(4) All witnesses
				shall swear or affirm that their testimony will be truthful. A person
				authorized to administer oaths shall swear each witness. The hearing officer
				may determine the capacity of a witness to testify and may consider capacity in
				determining the weight of the evidence. The hearing officer may refuse to admit
				testimony from a proposed witness who is found lacking capacity.
(5) The hearing officer may require
				post-hearing briefs to be submitted by the parties. Such briefs shall not
				exceed twenty (20) pages in length, double-spaced, exclusive of attachments,
				and shall be on paper eight and one-half by eleven inches in length.