§ 14.30.080. Pre-hearing procedures.

A.

Hearing schedule. If a proper request for a hearing is received in a timely manner the administrative hearings officer shall set a hearing on the matter no sooner than ten days and no later than 20 days after the date of the request unless the parties agree to extend or reduce the time for a hearing. Any changes in scheduling are subject to approval of the hearing officer. Where possible, hearings on charging documents filed by particular code enforcement officers shall be scheduled on a regular basis and heard consecutively so as to minimize the frequency that an officer is required to attend hearings. A notice of hearing shall be mailed to all parties indicating the time, date and location of the hearing. The failure of any person to receive actual notice of the proceeding shall not invalidate any order or decision of the administrative hearing officer.

B.

Correspondence. Any correspondence concerning the case shall include the name of the alleged violator and the case number, and shall be sent to the address of record of all parties.

C.

Notice of appearance. An attorney must give notice that he represents a party by filing an answer or by filing a notice of appearance and serving a copy on the opposing party. An attorney may withdraw from representation only with the consent of the administrative hearings officer, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.

D.

Discovery. If a party desires discovery prior to the hearing, any request for discovery shall be submitted along with the charging document or request for a hearing and served on the opposing party.

1.

If the discovery requested consists of documents, the party receiving the request shall either object in writing or make the requested documents available at least one week prior to the hearing. The hearing date may, upon order of the hearings officer, be extended to provide reasonable time for review of the documents and for additional discovery, if necessary. If an objection is filed with the administrative hearings officer and served on the opposing party, the objecting party shall bring the relevant documents to the hearing to facilitate in camera review and a ruling on the objection.

2.

Discovery shall not include depositions or interrogatories unless the administrative hearings officer, upon application of the party seeking such discovery, finds good cause. Good cause shall be such conditions or facts which may be relevant to a material element of the violation which cannot be obtained through any reasonable method other than interrogatories or depositions. An application to require interrogatories shall include the proposed interrogatories. An application for deposition or interrogatories shall set forth what material element of the violation is to be addressed in the deposition or interrogatories and shall explain why the facts sought are not obtainable by other reasonable means. Applications under this subsection shall be served on the opposing party at the time of application.

3.

The administrative hearings officer may issue orders pertaining to discovery under this section.

E.

The administrative hearings officer may issue a subpoena or a subpoena duces tecum upon the application of a party.

F.

Applications for discovery, subpoena or continuance shall be submitted to the administrative hearing officer in writing and shall be served on all parties. Applications shall contain, in addition to the information required elsewhere in this section, a brief complete statement of the basis for the request.

G.

A party may oppose an application by filing a written response within five days of receipt.

H.

An application for continuance of the hearing date shall be in writing and shall state the reason for the continuance. A continuance may only be granted on a finding of good cause. Good cause must be based upon matters either beyond the control of the party making application or conditions which would create a significant hardship if a continuance is not granted.

I.

An application under this section shall be decided in writing and without oral argument unless otherwise ordered by the administrative hearings officer.

(AO No. 93-167(S-1), § 1, 4-13-94; AO No. 95-180, § 9, 9-26-95)