21 NCAC 21 .0601 WITNESSES

Any party may be a witness and may present witnesses on the party's behalf at the hearing. All oral testimony at the hearing shall be under oath or affirmation and shall be recorded. At the request of a party or upon the Board's own motion, the presiding officer may exclude witnesses from the hearing room so that they cannot hear the testimony of other witnesses.

History Note:  Authority G.S. 89E20; 150B11; 150B25(a); 150B38; 150B40;
                     Eff. February 1, 1986;
                     Amended Eff. April 1, 1989.

21 NCAC 21 .0602 SIMPLIFICATION OF ISSUES

The parties to a contested case, specifically including the Board, may agree in advance to simplify the hearing by: decreasing the number of the issues to be contested at the hearing; accepting the validity of certain proposed evidence; accepting the findings in some other case with relevance to the case at hand; or agreeing to such other matters as may expedite the hearing.

History Note:  Authority G.S. 89E20; 150B11; 150B41;
                     Eff. February 1, 1986;
                     Amended Eff. April 1, 1989.

21 NCAC 21 .0603 SUBPOENAS

(a) Requests for subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses or for the production of documents, either at a hearing or for the purposes of discovery, shall be made in writing to the Board, shall identify any document sought with specificity, and shall include the full name and home or business address of all persons to be subpoenaed and, if known, the date, time, and place for responding to the subpoena. The Board shall issue the requested subpoenas within three days of receipt of the request.
(b) Subpoenas shall be issued in duplicate, with a "Return of Service" form attached to each copy. The person serving the subpoena shall fill out the "Return of Service" form for each copy and promptly return one copy of the subpoena, with the attached "Return of Service" form completed to the Board.
(c) Subpoenas shall be served by the sheriff of the county in which the person subpoenaed resides, when the party requesting such subpoena prepays the Sheriff's service fee.
(d) Any person receiving a subpoena from the Board may object thereto by filing a written objection to the subpoena with the Board by mailing same to the Board office.
(e) Such objection will include a concise, but complete, statement of reasons why the subpoena should be revoked or modified. These reasons may include lack of relevancy of the evidence sought, lack of particularity in the description of the evidence sought, or any other reason sufficient in law for holding the subpoena invalid, such as that the evidence is priviledged, that appearance or production would be so disruptive as to be unreasonable in light of the significance of the evidence sought, or other undue hardship.
(f) Any such objection to a subpoena must be served on the party who requested the subpoena simultaneously with the filing of the objection with the Board.
(g) The party who requested the subpoena, in such time as may be granted by the Board, may file a written response to the objection. The written response shall be served by the requesting party on the objecting witness simultaneously with filing the response with the Board.
(h) After receipt of the objection and response thereto, if any, the Board shall issue a notice to the party who requested the subpoena and the party who is challenging it, and may notify all other parties of an open hearing, to be scheduled as soon as practicable, at which time evidence and testimony may be presented, limited to the narrow questions raised by the objection and response, if any.
(i) Promptly after the close of such hearing, the Board will rule on the challenge and issue a written decision. A copy of the decision will be issued to all parties and made a part of the record.
(j) Subpoenas shall contain the following:

(1) the caption of the case;

(2) the name and address of the person subpoenaed;

(3) the date, hour and location of the hearing in which the witness is commanded to appear;

(4) a particularized description of the books, papers, records or objects the witness is directed to bring with him to the hearing, if any;