Section 8. Hearing Procedures
Effective December 8, 2022
(a) All requests for a hearing to resolve disputes relating to the denial or revocation of a certificate pursuant to section 7 and staff training requirements pursuant to section 10 of these rules shall follow the procedures described in this section.
(b) If the Indiana Office of Court Services denies a supervising judge’s objections to the denial of an application for certification or revocation of a certificate pursuant to section 7, or staff work restrictions pursuant to section 10 of these rules, the supervising judge may request a hearing on the matter as follows:
(1) the request must be submitted in writing to the Indiana Office of Court Services within 15 days from the date of the written notice issued under section 7(c), section 10(e) or section 10(f) of these rules and must state the reason(s) for the hearing request; and
(2) the request for a hearing may not include any reason that was not included in the objections submitted under section 7(b), section 10(e) or section 10(f) of these rules, as applicable.
(c) Upon receipt of a request for a hearing, a hearing examiner shall be selected as follows:
(1) The executive director of the Indiana Office of Court Services shall create a list of three judges as candidates for hearing examiner who are members of the Pretrial Services Committee but are not members of the Board of Directors of the Judicial Conference of Indiana. The executive director shall consider availability, years of service on the Pretrial Services Committee, and the extent of participation on the Pretrial Services Committee when creating the list of candidates.
(2) The candidates for hearing examiner shall be communicated in writing to the supervising judge no later than 15 days after the request for a hearing was received by the Indiana Office of Court Services.
(3) The supervising judge shall select a hearing examiner from the list and advise the executive director of this selection in writing no later than 15 days after the list of candidates for hearing examiner was received by the supervising judge.
(d) The hearing examiner shall conduct an informal hearing within 30 days after the date the hearing examiner is selected by the supervising judge unless otherwise jointly agreed upon by the hearing examiner, supervising judge, and the Indiana Office of Court Services.
(1) At least 10 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.
(2) The hearing examiner is not required to follow any formal rules of evidence or procedure.
(3) Both parties may submit evidence.
(4) The Indiana Office of Court Services must show why the application does not meet the certification requirements established by the Judicial Conference of Indiana, that revocation of the certificate is justified, or that one or more staff members have not met all training requirements.
(5) The hearing examiner shall make an electronic recording of the hearing. The supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services may obtain a copy of the electronic recording of the hearing from the hearing examiner.
(6) The hearing examiner may ask the supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services to submit proposed findings and recommendations to the hearing officer following the hearing.
(e) No later than 30 days after the date that the hearing under subsection
(d) of this section was held, the hearing examiner shall send proposed written findings and recommendations to the supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services.
(1) All objections to the hearing examiner’s proposed findings and recommendations must be:
(A) in writing; and
(B) submitted to the hearing examiner with a copy to the other party no later than 15 days after the date that the proposed findings and recommendations were issued.
(2) The hearing examiner shall submit the proposed findings and recommendations to the Pretrial Services Committee unless the supervising judge submits written notice no later than 15 days after the proposed findings and recommendations were issued that the supervising judge has decided to withdraw the objections.
(3) If no objections are submitted and the Pretrial Services Committee adopts the findings and recommendations as submitted, those findings and recommendations become final upon adoption. The Pretrial Services Committee’s findings and recommendations must be adopted by a majority vote of the members.
(4) If the supervising judge or the Indiana Office of Court Services objects to the proposed findings and recommendations, or the Pretrial Services Committee proposes to modify or reject the proposed findings and recommendations, the Pretrial Services Committee must conduct an informal hearing and provide the supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services with an opportunity to be heard orally concerning the proposed findings and recommendations. At least 10 days before the date of the hearing, the Pretrial Services Committee shall provide written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to the supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services.
(5) No later than 30 days after the date that the hearing under subdivision (4) was held, the Pretrial Services Committee shall submit its written findings and recommendations to the supervising judge and the Indiana Office of Court Services. The Pretrial Services Committee’s findings and recommendations must be adopted by a majority vote of the members.
(f) The supervising judge or the Indiana Office of Court Services may request review of the Pretrial Services Committee’s findings and recommendations by the Judicial Conference of Indiana Board of Directors.
(1) The request for review must be:
(A) in writing, describing specific objections to the findings and recommendations adopted by the Pretrial Services Committee;
(B) submitted to the chairperson of the Board of Directors no later than 15 days after the date Pretrial Services Committee adopts its findings and recommendations; and
(C) submitted by the supervising judge or the Indiana Office of Court Services with a copy provided to other party.
(2) At least 10 days before the meeting, the Indiana Office of Court Services shall provide written notice of the date, time, and place of the Board of Directors’ meeting to the supervising judge and the Pretrial Services Committee.
(3) The Board of Directors’ 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 send written notice to the supervising judge and the Pretrial Services Committee of the Board of Directors’ findings no later than 10 days after the date of the meeting held pursuant to this subsection.
(g) Upon the conclusion of the proceedings under this section for the denial of an application for certification or revocation of a pretrial services certificate pursuant to section 7 of these rules:
(1) if the pretrial services entity is permitted to attain or retain certification, the pretrial services entity shall comply with the findings and recommendations adopted pursuant to this section as well as IC 35-33-8 and these rules in order to maintain certification; or
(2) if the application for certification is denied or the pretrial services certificate is revoked, the pretrial services entity is not authorized to provide certified pretrial services pursuant to IC 35-33-8 and these rules, effective on the date of the Board of Directors meeting held pursuant to subsection (f) of this section.
(h) Upon the conclusion of proceedings under this section for the imposition of staff work restrictions pursuant to section 10 of these rules:
(1) if the pretrial services entity is permitted to lift staff work restrictions, the pretrial services entity shall comply with the findings and recommendations adopted pursuant to this section as well as IC 35-33-8 and these rules to maintain pretrial services certification; or
(2) if the pretrial services entity is not permitted to lift staff work restrictions, the pretrial services entity shall comply with the restrictions imposed by the Indiana Office of Court Services in order to maintain pretrial services certification.