Sec. 2.19. Hearings conducted by video conference

(a) At the discretion of the department official who issued the notice of action or proposed action, a hearing held pursuant to this Part may be conducted by video conference. When a hearing is conducted by video conference, none of the parties nor the hearing officer need to be physically present at the same location.

(b) All provisions of this Part that are not inconsistent with the specific provisions of this section shall apply to hearings conducted by video conference. For purposes of section 2.14(b) of this Part, the term hearing room shall mean video conference when a hearing is conducted by video conference.

(c) A respondent or applicant may object to conducting the hearing by video conference by sending a written notice of the objection to the hearing officer by first class mail, overnight mail or electronic mail to an address or email address designated by the department and posted on the department’s website. The written notice of objection must be received by the hearing officer at least five business days before the time set for the hearing.

(d) In the event that the hearing officer receives a timely written objection to conducting the hearing by video conference in accordance with subdivision (c) of this section, the hearing officer may determine that the hearing shall not be conducted by video conference and shall be conducted with the respondent or applicant and the hearing officer physically present at the same location, when in the judgment of the hearing officer:

(1) the respondent’s or applicant’s due process rights would best be served by conducting a hearing in-person; or

(2) there are circumstances presented by the respondent or applicant that make proceeding with the hearing by video conference fundamentally unfair or impractical.