Section 14. Hearing Procedures
Effective August 31, 2021
(a) All hearings held to determine issues relating to the denial of an application for certification or recertification, the revocation of a certificate, or compliance with staff training requirements pursuant to Section 30 must follow the procedures described in this section.
(b) A supervising judge who submitted written objections to a denial of an application under subsection 10(b) may file a request for a hearing.
(1) The request must be in writing and must state the reason for the request.
(2) The request may not include any reasons that were not included in the objections submitted under subsection 10(b).
(3) The request must be filed with the Indiana Office of Court Services within 15 days after the second denial of the application under subsection 10(c).
(c) A supervising judge who submits a written complaint, in response to an administrative determination of the Indiana Office of Court Services, may file a request for a hearing to be conducted in compliance with this section, or request the Court Alcohol and Drug Program Advisory Committee (CADPAC) to conduct a preliminary review of the determination at the next available meeting date prior to requesting a hearing.
(d) Within 30 days after a request for a hearing has been filed with the Indiana Office of Court Services, CADPAC shall conduct a hearing.
(1) The hearing shall be conducted by a hearing examiner who is selected as follows:
(A) The executive director of the Indiana Office of Court Services shall create a list naming three judges who are members of the CADPAC but who are not members of the Board of Directors of the Judicial Conference. If the majority of judges serving on CADPAC are members of the Board of Directors of the Judicial Conference, the executive director may include one or more judges who have served on CADPAC in the past on the list.
(B) In designating the three judges the executive director shall consider availability, years of service on CADPAC and extent of participation.
(C) The supervising judge shall select one name from the three listed and advise the executive director of the name selected.
(2) The hearing examiner shall conduct an informal hearing and is not required to follow any formal rules of evidence or procedure.
(A) At least ten days before the date of the hearing, the hearing examiner shall provide the supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services with written notice of the date, time and place of the hearing.
(B) The party requesting the hearing must show why:
(i) the application meets the certification requirements established by the Judicial Conference of Indiana;
(ii) the revocation of the certificate is justified; or,
(iii) the determination of the Indiana Office of Court Services is arbitrary or capricious.
(C) Either party may submit supporting evidence, if any.
(D) The hearing examiner shall make an electronic recording of the hearing and may have a written transcript prepared of the electronic recording. The supervising judge may obtain a copy of the electronic recording or the written transcript if a written transcript has been prepared from the Indiana Office of Court Services upon payment of the cost of the copy.
(e) Within 30 days after the hearing, the hearing examiner shall submit proposed written findings and recommendations to the supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services.
(1) Objections to the findings and recommendations must be:
(A) in writing; and
(B) filed with the Indiana Office of Court Services no later than 15 days after the date the proposed findings and recommendations were issued.
(2) The findings and recommendations will be submitted to CADPAC unless the supervising judge gives written notice within the 15 day period that he or she has decided to withdraw the appeal.
(3) If no objections are filed and CADPAC adopts the findings and recommendations as submitted without a hearing, those findings and recommendations become final.
(4) If either the supervising judge or the executive director of the Indiana Office of Court Services objects to the findings and recommendations, or if CADPAC proposes to modify or reject the findings and recommendations in the absence of any objections, CADPAC must conduct a hearing and provide the supervising judge and the executive director of the Indiana Office of Court Services with an opportunity to be heard orally concerning the findings and recommendations. At least ten days before the hearing, the Indiana Office of Court Services must give written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to the supervising judge.
(5) CADPAC’s findings and recommendations must be adopted by a majority vote of the members present and voting.
(f) The supervising judge or the executive director of the Indiana Office of Court Services may request the Board of Directors of the Judicial Conference to review CADPAC’s decision.
(1) The request for review must be:
(A) in writing describing specific objections to the findings and recommendations adopted by CADPAC; and
(B) filed with the Indiana Office of Court Services within 15 days after the date CADPAC renders its decision.
(2) At least ten days before the Board meeting, the Indiana Office of Court Services must give written notice of the date, time and place of the meeting to the supervising judge.
(3) The Board’s findings and recommendations must be adopted by a majority vote of the members present and voting and are final.
(4) The Indiana Office of Court Services shall notify the supervising judge of the Board’s decision in writing within ten days after the decision is made.