§2050.15. Hearing officers; powers; contemptuous conduct

A. A hearing officer for an adjudicatory hearing shall have the power to:

(1) Administer oaths and affirmations.

(2) Receive acknowledgments and affidavits.

(3) Order depositions be taken.

(4) Hold conferences for the settlement or simplification of a matter.

(5) Issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and giving of testimony by witnesses and the production of documentary and other physical evidence.

(6) Dispose of interlocutory matters.

(7) Conduct and regulate the course of an adjudicatory hearing, rule on offers of proof, receive admissible evidence, make findings of fact and conclusions of law, make recommendations, issue orders, and render decisions.

(8) Conduct public hearings held in conjunction with an adjudicatory hearing.

(9) Exercise any other power conferred by the Administrative Procedure Act.

(10) Exercise any other power conferred by law.

B.(1) When a party, the representative of a party, or a witness in an adjudicatory hearing refuses to comply with an order of the hearing officer or acts contemptuously toward the hearing officer, the secretary or a party may apply by summary process to the district court for an appropriate order.

(2) The hearing officer may certify the acts that constitute refusal to obey an order or contemptuous conduct to the attorney general who shall apply on behalf of the hearing officer by summary process to the district court for an appropriate order.

(3) The court shall preferentially hear an application and enter such order as the court deems proper.

Acts 1995, No. 947, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.