Section 1.5 - Filing and Service of Documents(a) All pleadings filed by any party relating to any contested proceeding pending or to be instituted before the department shall be filed with the hearings clerk or other staff member primarily responsible for legal support to the administrative law judge for the department, and if appropriate, SOAH. A pleading shall be deemed filed only when actually received.(b) A copy of any pleading filed by any party in any proceeding, subsequent to the institution thereof, shall be mailed or otherwise delivered by the party filing the same to every other party, or such party's attorney of record not less than five days before the time specified for the hearing.(c) Service of a document is complete upon deposit of the document in the mail, or with a commercial delivery service, addressed to the party or the party's attorney and sent to the party's last known address, or the attorney's last known address. The date of deposit as hereinabove provided is the date of the act, after which any designated period of time begins to run as provided in § 1.6 of this chapter (relating to Computation and Enlargement of Time).(d) Service may also be accomplished by fax. Service by fax is complete when sent to the recipient's fax number. Service completed after 5:00 p.m. local time of the recipient shall be deemed served on the following day.(e) Service may also be accomplished by email. Service by email is complete when sent to the recipient's last known email address. Service completed after 5:00 p.m. local time of the recipient shall be deemed served on the following day.(f) The willful failure of any party to make such service shall be sufficient grounds for the entry of an order by the administrative law judge, striking the protest, reply, answer, motion, or other pleading from the record.(g) A certificate by the party, attorney, or representative who files a pleading, stating that it has been served on the other parties, shall be prima facie evidence of such service. The following form of certificate will be sufficient in this connection: "I hereby certify that a copy of this (state name of pleading) was sent by (state manner of service) to each addressee listed below on ________________________. Signature."(h) If a document was sent to a party by the department by regular mail, certified mail, or registered mail, the document is presumed to have been received no later than five days after mailing. The provisions of this §1.5 adopted to be effective January 18, 1991, 16 TexReg 113; amended to be effective August 3, 1993, 18 TexReg 4747; amended to be effective August 23, 1996, 21 TexReg 7656; amended to be effective August 30, 2000, 25 TexReg 8375; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 47, Number 48, December 2, 2022, TexReg 8039, eff. 12/8/2022