(1) Presiding officer. All hearings are conducted by a presiding officer who shall conduct the hearing in an orderly manner and rule on all procedural matters, objections and motions.

(2) Testimony under oath. All testimony to be considered by the board must be sworn or affirmed. The presiding officer, or other authorized officer, shall administer the oath to witnesses.

(3) Recording.

(a) An official record of all evidentiary hearings must be made by manual, electronic, or other type of recording device.

(b) Unofficial use of photographic and recording equipment is permitted at hearings; however, anyone seeking to use such equipment must consult first with the presiding officer, who may impose conditions on their use as necessary to prevent disruption of the hearing.

(4) Order of presentation of evidence.

(a) The presiding officer shall determine the proper order of presentation of evidence. As a general rule, the appealing party shall initially introduce its evidence, except that in case of an appeal from a regulatory order or an order assessing a penalty, the issuing agency shall initially introduce all evidence necessary to its case.

(b) The opposing party shall present its evidence after the party initially presenting evidence has rested.

(c) Rebuttal and surrebuttal evidence will be received only at the discretion of the presiding officer.

(d) Witnesses may be called out of turn in contravention of this rule by agreement of all parties.

(5) Opening statements. Unless the presiding officer rules otherwise, parties may present an oral opening statement setting out briefly a statement of the basic facts, disputes and issues of the case.

(6) Written statement of qualifications of expert witnesses. Any party who plans to introduce the testimony of any expert witness at the hearing shall submit as an exhibit to the board and all parties at the hearing a written statement of the qualifications, experience, and expertise of each such expert witness.

(7) Former employee as an expert witness. Except when permitted by applicable state conflict of interest law, no former employee of the department may appear as an expert witness on behalf of other parties in a board proceeding in which he or she took an active part in the matter giving rise to the appeal as an employee of the department.

(8) Objections and motions to strike. Objections to the admission or exclusion of evidence must be in short form stating the legal grounds of objection relied upon.

(9) Rulings. The presiding officer, on objection or independently, shall exclude all irrelevant or unduly repetitious evidence. All rulings upon objections to the admissibility of evidence shall be made in accordance with WAC 371-08-480 through 371-08-515.