PUBLIC HEARING

A Public Hearing is conducted by a Hearing Officer. In the hearing, testimony is taken under oath, recorded by a court reporter and documents are introduced as exhibits. A complainant is represented by an Assistant Attorney General and may retain a privately retained attorney. A Respondent is almost always represented by a private counsel. The Hearing Officer issues a decision which may be affirmed, reversed or modified by the seven-member Commission.

The Commission added thirty-four (34) cases to the public hearing docket in FY 1981. Some twenty- eight (28) cases from the docket were settled and another nine (9) hearings were held.

The beginning public hearing docket was twenty one (21) and was decreased to twenty (20) cases as FY 1981 closed taking into account the complexity o scheduling, conducting and issuing hearing decisions, it is a remarkable record.