Section 2605.360  Witness Testimony

a)         The Hearing Officer may exercise reasonable control over the form of examination and order of witnesses so as to make the examination effective for gathering the facts, avoiding delay, and protecting witnesses from harassment or undue embarrassment. The Hearing Officer may limit the examination of witnesses to prevent cumulative or irrelevant evidence. The Hearing Officer may examine any witness.

b)         A party may object to specific questions asked by the Hearing Officer, but it shall not be objectionable that a question violates a technical rule of evidence. For purposes of this Section, the rule against hearsay is a substantive, rather than a technical, rule of evidence.

c)         Before testifying, a witness shall declare, by oath or affirmation and under penalty of perjury, that he or she will testify truthfully.

d)         In the interests of justice, at the request of a party, or on the Hearing Officer's own motion, the Hearing Officer may order witnesses excluded so that they cannot hear the testimony of other witnesses. The Hearing Officer may direct that all excluded and non-excluded witnesses be kept separate until called and may prevent them from communicating with one another until they have been examined or the Hearing is ended.

(Source:  Amended at 43 Ill. Reg. 4056, effective March 19, 2019)