West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 85 - Workers' Compensation › Title 85 - PROCEDURAL RULE WORKERS' COMPENSATION RULES OF THE WEST VIRGINIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER › Series 85-07 - Rules For Selected Hearings › Section 85-7-5 - Parties and Conduct of Hearings

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
5.1. At the hearing, an opportunity shall be
				afforded all parties to present evidence and argument with respect to the
				matters and issues involved. Argument may be restricted to a presentation in
				written form. All of the testimony and evidence at the hearing shall be
				reported by stenographic notes and characters or by mechanical means. All
				rulings on the admissibility of testimony and evidence shall also be reported.
				The commission shall prepare an official record, which shall include reported
				testimony and exhibits in each contested case, and all agency staff memoranda
				and data used in consideration of the case, but it shall not be necessary to
				transcribe the reported testimony unless required for purposes of rehearing or
				judicial review. All reported testimony and evidence at a hearing shall be
				transcribed, and a copy thereof furnished to the party upon its request. The
				commission shall have the responsibility for making arrangements for the
				transcription of the reported testimony and evidence and such transcription
				shall be accomplished with all dispatch.
5.2. Evidentiary depositions may be taken and
				read as in civil actions in the circuit court of this state.
5.3. Except to the extent required by statute
				or by this rule, all hearings under this rule will be conducted in accordance
				with the "Rules of Civil Procedure for Trial Courts of Record," "Trial Court
				Rules for Trial Courts of Record," and "Local Rules for Kanawha County Civil
				Courts" as those rules would apply to a trial court sitting without a
				jury.
5.4. All hearings shall be
				conducted in an impartial manner. The commission, the executive director,
				inspectors, and every hearing officer appointed by the commission shall have
				the power to administer oaths and affirmations, certify official acts, take
				depositions, rule upon offers of proof and receive relevant evidence, regulate
				the course of the hearing, hold conferences for the settlement or
				simplification of the issues (subject to the limitations stated elsewhere in
				this rule) by consent of the parties, dispose of procedural requests, motions,
				or similar matters, and take such other actions as are authorized by this
				rule.
5.5. During a hearing,
				irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. The
				"Rules of Evidence" as applied in civil cases by a court sitting without a jury
				shall be followed. However, when necessary to ascertain facts not reasonably
				susceptible of proof under those rules, evidence not admissible thereunder may
				be admitted, except where precluded by statute, if it is of a type commonly
				relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs. The
				hearing officer shall be bound by the rules of privilege recognized by law.
				Objections to evidentiary offers shall be noted in the record, but exceptions
				to rulings by the hearing officer shall not be made. Any party to any hearing
				may vouch the record as to any excluded testimony or other evidence provided
				that the hearing officer may elect to require that the excluded testimony be
				submitted in written form following the hearing.
5.6. All evidence, including papers, records,
				agency staff memoranda and documents in the possession of the commission, of
				which it desires to avail itself, shall be offered and made a part of the
				record in the case, and no other factual information or evidence shall be
				considered in the determination of the case. Documentary evidence may be
				received in the form of copies of excerpts or by incorporation by reference. In
				all cases, copies of orders, proceedings, or records in the offices of the
				commission shall be equal to the original in evidence.
5.7. Every party shall have the right of
				cross-examination of witnesses who testify, and shall have the right to submit
				rebuttal evidence.
5.8. All
				witnesses who testify during a hearing shall first be subject to oath or
				affirmation and any testimony submitted by deposition shall show on the face
				thereof that the witness was so qualified.
5.9. The hearing officer may take notice of
				judicially cognizable facts. All parties shall be notified either before or
				during the hearing, or by reference in preliminary reports or otherwise, of the
				material so noticed, and they shall be afforded an opportunity to contest the
				facts so noticed.
5.10. Burden of
				proof. There is a presumption that the commission's decisions or actions are
				valid. The party contesting the commission's decisions or actions has the
				burden of overcoming this presumption by satisfactory proof.