(i) notice of the proposed action and a general description of the reasons therefor; and

(ii) notice of the right to be heard and the opportunity to request a hearing on the matter.

(i) a statement of the date, time and place of the hearing;

(ii) a statement of the legal authority and jurisdiction under which the hearing is to be held;

(iii) a reference to the particular sections of the statutes and regulations involved, if any;

(iv) a short and plain statement of matters asserted; and

(v) a statement that interpreter services shall be made available, at no charge, to non-English speaking persons or persons with hearing impairments.

(i) by personal delivery to the party or his or her attorney or a person of suitable age and discretion at the attorney's office;

(ii) by mailing, postage prepaid, to the address last designated by the party or his or her attorney for the receipt of papers or, if no address is designated, at the recipient's last known address;

(iii) by overnight delivery service to the address last designated by the party or his or her attorney for the receipt of papers or, if no address is designated, at the recipient's last known address; or

(iv) by electronic transmission to the telephone number or other station designated by the party or his or her attorney for that purpose, where the party or his or her attorney has consented to the receipt of papers by electronic transmission. Unless a party provides written notice to the contrary, a party will be deemed to have consented to accepting service by electronic transmission where a telephone number for such transmission appears on letterhead used by the party in correspondence with the Office of Mental Health.

(i) rule upon applications and requests, including requests for adjournments;

(ii) set dates, times and places of hearings;

(iii) administer oaths and affirmations;

(iv) issue subpoenas, which shall be regulated by the Civil Practice Law and Rules, requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, records, contracts papers and other evidence;

(v) examine witnesses;

(vi) admit and exclude evidence;

(vii) limit the number of times any witness may testify, repetitious examination or cross-examination, and the amount of corroborative or cumulative testimony;

(viii) request and/or hear oral arguments;

(ix) request written arguments;

(x) order the parties to appear for a prehearing conference to consider matters which may simplify the issues or expedite the proceedings; and

(xi) do all acts and take all measures necessary for the maintenance of order and the efficient conduct of the hearing.

(i) If a party has a good faith basis to believe that a hearing officer cannot render a fair and impartial decision in a particular case, such party may request that the hearing officer recuse himself or herself. Such request must be made in writing and must articulate the specific grounds on which the party claims interest or bias.

(ii) Upon receipt of a request for recusal, the hearing officer shall expeditiously determine whether or not to recuse himself or herself. If the hearing officer determines not to recuse himself or herself, he or she shall issue a written decision stating the reasons therefor and shall serve a copy of the decision on all parties.

(iii) Upon written application of any party filed within five days of service of the hearing officer's determination, such a termination shall be subject to review by the commissioner. The commissioner or his or her designee shall review the matter as soon as practicable and shall issue a written determination, which shall be made part of the record.

(i) A party may appear in person or by an attorney. If a party appears by an attorney, service of papers shall be made upon the attorney.

(ii) In the event a party or its representative does not appear at a scheduled hearing without prior notice of an inability to appear, the hearing officer may recommend to the commissioner a default decision against that party.

(i) In proceedings which involve common questions of fact, the hearing officer, upon his or her own motion, or upon the motion of any party, may order a consolidation of actions or a joint hearing of any or all issues to avoid unnecessary delay and cost.

(ii) The hearing officer may order a severance of the hearing and hear separately any issue in the proceeding to avoid prejudice or inconvenience.

(i) The hearing officer shall not be bound by technical or formal rules of procedure or common law or statutory rules of evidence, except that the rules of privilege recognized, by law shall be respected. The determination of privilege shall be founded upon sufficient legal evidence. Objections to evidentiary offers may be made and shall be noted in the record. Subject to these requirements, where appropriate, a hearing officer may, for the purpose of expediting hearings, and when the interests of parties will not be substantially prejudiced thereby, accept the submission of all or part of the evidence in written form.

(ii) Each witness shall be sworn or shall give an affirmation.

(iii) Each party shall have the right to present evidence and be afforded an opportunity to require the production of witnesses and evidence in manner and form as prescribed by the Civil Practice Law and Rules, to cross-examine witnesses, to examine evidence produced against them, and to have subpoenas issued on their behalf.

(iv) Official notice may be taken of all facts of which judicial notice could be taken and of other facts within the specialized knowledge of the Office of Mental Health.

(v) If evidence at a hearing relates to the identity, condition or clinical record of a patient, the hearing officer may exclude all persons from the room except parties to the proceeding, their counsel, and the witnesses. The record of this proceeding shall not be available to anyone outside the Office of Mental Health, other than a party to the proceedings or his or her counsel, except by order of a court of record.

(vi) All parties shall have the right to make oral arguments before a hearing officer, which shall be included in the record of the hearing. Such oral argument may be curtailed at the discretion of the hearing officer, provided that a party shall be given the opportunity to submit his or her argument in writing.

(vii) Memoranda of law may be required by the hearing officer, or may be submitted by any party. The hearing officer will fix the time within which memoranda of law may be filed. Memoranda of law received subsequent to the time specified need not be considered.

(i) A verbatim recording shall be made of the proceedings.

(ii) A transcription of the record shall be made available to any party upon request and payment of the cost of the transcription.