§ 96.66 Hearing procedure.

(a) A hearing is public, except when the Secretary or the presiding officer determines that all or part of a hearing should be closed to prevent a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (such as disclosure of information in medical records that would identify patients), to prevent the disclosure of a trade secret or confidential commercial or financial information, or to protect investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes that are not available for public disclosure.

(b) A hearing will be conducted by the presiding officer. Employees of the Department will first give a full and complete statement of the action which is the subject of the hearing, together with the information and reasons supporting it, and may present any oral or written information relevant to the hearing. The State may then present any oral or written information relevant to the hearing. Both parties may confront and conduct reasonable cross-examination of any person (except for the presiding officer and counsel for the parties) who makes any statement on the matter at the hearing.