Section 129.6.23. Evidence.

         6.23(1) The presiding officer shall rule on admissibility of evidence in accordance with Iowa Code section 17A.14 and may, where appropriate, take official notice of facts in accordance with Iowa Code section 17A.14(4).

         6.23(2) Stipulation of facts is encouraged. The presiding officer may make a decision based on stipulated facts.

         6.23(3) Evidence in the proceeding shall be confined to the issues as to which the parties received notice prior to the hearing unless the parties waive their right to such notice or the presiding officer determines good cause justifies expansion of the issues. If the presiding officer decides to admit evidence on issues outside the scope of the notice over the objection of a party that did not have actual notice of those issues, that party, upon timely request, shall receive a continuance sufficient to amend its pleadings and to prepare on the additional issue.

         6.23(4) The party seeking admission of an exhibit must provide opposing parties with an opportunity to examine the exhibit prior to the ruling on its admissibility. Copies of documents shall be provided to opposing parties. All exhibits admitted into evidence shall be appropriately marked and be made part of the record. The way in which the parties shall mark exhibits shall be determined at the prehearing conference, if any. If there is no prehearing conference, the way in which the parties shall mark exhibits shall be determined by mutual agreement between the parties prior to hearing.

         6.23(5) Any party may object to specific evidence or may request limits on the scope of any examination or cross-examination. Such objection shall be timely, and the objecting party shall briefly state the grounds for the objection. The objection, the ruling on the objection, and the reasons for the ruling shall be noted in the record. The presiding officer may rule on the objection at the time it is made or may reserve a ruling until the written decision.

         6.23(6) Whenever evidence is ruled inadmissible, the party offering that evidence may submit an offer of proof on the record. The party making the offer of proof for excluded oral testimony shall briefly summarize the testimony or, with permission of the presiding officer, present the testimony. If the excluded evidence consists of a document or exhibit, it shall be marked as part of an offer of proof and inserted in the record.

         6.23(7) Irrelevant, immaterial and unduly repetitious evidence should be excluded. A finding will be based upon the kind of evidence upon which reasonably prudent persons are accustomed to rely for the conduct of their serious affairs and may be based on hearsay or other types of evidence which may or would be inadmissible in a jury trial.

[ARC 2542C, IAB 5/25/16, effective 6/29/16]