Except as otherwise limited by Section 18.6 of this Rule, a licensee may request a hearing after any Suspension Order enters. The licensee shall make his or her request for a hearing in conformance with the scope and process described within this Rule, based on the statutory basis for the suspension which has entered against the licensee.
Upon timely receipt of a request for a hearing, whether before or after a suspension, Board staff shall notify the licensee of the time and place for the hearing. No licensee shall be permitted a hearing at any Board meeting absent written notice to do so from Board staff.
The hearing, whether before or after a suspension, shall be conducted by the Chair of the Inquiry Panel and shall be entirely informal. The hearing need not conform to the requirements of section 24-4-105, C.R.S. The hearing shall not be transcribed or recorded either by the Inquiry Panel or the licensee. The licensee may appear with counsel. Both the licensee and counsel may present argument and may comment on the previously submitted written material. The licensee may offer evidence through witnesses. Such testimony may be written or in person (including testimony by telephone) and need not be sworn. If the licensee intends to present testimony by telephone, it shall be coordinated with Board staff prior to the date of the hearing. Cross examination of the witnesses by the Panel members or counsel for the Panel may be permitted in the discretion of the Inquiry Panel's Chair. No hearing shall exceed thirty minutes, unless, in the discretion of the Inquiry Panel's Chair, additional time is necessary in the interests of a fair hearing. Following the presentation of evidence and argument, the licensee, counsel to the licensee, and any witnesses or persons associated with the licensee shall depart the meeting room. The Inquiry Panel shall then deliberate. Following its deliberations, the Inquiry Panel shall instruct its counsel to communicate the Inquiry Panel's decision to the licensee in writing within seventy-two hours of the decision (excluding interim weekends and state holidays from the calculation).
The hearing conducted pursuant to these Rules shall be a "hearing" as set forth in section 12-240-125(9), C.R.S. Nothing in these Rules shall waive or limit the Inquiry Panel's ability to communicate with its counsel, orally or in writing, at any time, in confidence. Nothing in these Rules or in the hearing called for by these Rules shall waive any privilege on the part of the Board, Hearings Panel or Inquiry Panel. Specifically, but not by way of limitation, the Board, Hearings Panel or Inquiry Panel shall not be deemed to have waived its attorney-client or deliberative process privileges. The decision of the Inquiry Panel is not subject to appeal and shall not constitute "final agency action" as set out in section 24- 4-102(1), C.R.S.
3 CCR 713-18.7