New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 1 - GENERAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION › Chapter 8 - STATE ETHICS COMMISSION › Part 3 - ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS › Section 1.8.3.14 - HEARING OFFICERS; SUMMARY DISPOSITION; HEARINGS; INTERPRETERS; EVIDENCE

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. The commission shall
				authorize the director to contract, for reasonable hourly compensation, with
				qualified persons to act as hearing officers. Hearing officers shall be
				assigned to act on or preside over hearings on complaints. Hearing officers
				must be currently licensed attorneys, or retired judges of the appellate,
				district, or metropolitan courts of New Mexico or any federal court, who are
				familiar with the ethics and election laws enforced by the commission. A
				hearing officer shall conduct a hearing fairly and impartially. A hearing
				officer who determines whether a complaint is supported by probable cause
				pursuant to Subsection B of Section
				1.8.3.13 NMAC shall not preside
				over a hearing on the merits of the same complaint.
B. All hearings before the hearing officer
				will occur in Santa Fe or Albuquerque, or at such other location within the
				state as may be determined by the hearing officer. In selecting the location of
				a hearing other than in Santa Fe or Albuquerque, the hearing officer shall
				consider and give weight to the location and reasonable concerns of the
				respective parties, witnesses, and representatives in the proceeding. Upon a
				showing by any party of an undue burden, the hearing officer may move the
				hearing to a more appropriate venue.
C. If a hearing officer has not already
				notified the parties of a hearing through the issuance of a scheduling order,
				the director will notify the parties to the hearing by mail, directed to the
				address provided by the parties, of the date, time, and place scheduled for the
				hearing, at least 15 days before the scheduled hearing.
D. The hearing shall be conducted pursuant to
				the rules of evidence governing proceedings in the state courts, Rule 11-101
				NMRA, and these procedural rules. In the event of a conflict between these
				procedural rules and the rules of evidence governing proceedings in the state
				courts, these procedural rules control. All hearings shall be open to the
				public in accordance with the Open Meetings Act, Section
				10-15-1 NMSA 1978, except for
				hearings or portions thereof exempted from the requirements of that
				Act.
E. Audio recordings shall be
				made of all hearings conducted pursuant to this section.
F. The parties may be represented by counsel,
				who shall enter an appearance at the earliest opportunity, pursuant to
				Paragraph (7) of Subsection A of
				1.8.3.9 NMAC.
G. The hearing officer shall permit the
				general counsel to intervene upon request. If the complaint was initiated by
				the commission under Paragraph (1) of Subsection C of Section
				10-16G-5 NMSA 1978 and Subsection
				E of 1.8.3.9 NMAC, then the executive
				director shall represent the commission at the hearing.
H. The hearing officer shall have the duty to
				conduct fair and impartial hearings, to take all necessary action to avoid
				delay in the proceedings and to maintain order. The hearing officer shall have
				the powers necessary to carry out these duties, including the following:
(1) to administer or have administered oaths
				and affirmations;
(2) to cause
				depositions to be taken;
(3) to
				require the production or inspection of documents and other items;
(4) to require the answering of
				interrogatories and requests for admissions;
(5) to rule upon offers of proof and receive
				evidence;
(6) to regulate the
				course of the hearings and the conduct of the parties and their representatives
				therein;
(7) to issue a scheduling
				order, schedule a prehearing conference for simplification of the issues, or
				any other proper purpose;
(8) to
				schedule, continue and reschedule hearings;
(9) to consider and rule upon all procedural
				and other motions appropriate in the proceeding;
(10) to require the filing of briefs on
				specific legal issues prior to or after the hearing;
(11) to cause a complete audio record of
				hearings to be made;
(12) to make
				and issue decisions and orders; and
(13) to reprimand, or with warning in extreme
				instances exclude from the hearing, any person for engaging in a continuing
				pattern of disruptive or other improper conduct that interferes with the
				conduct of a fair and orderly hearing or development of a complete
				record.