A. Burden of Proof. The appellant shall have the burden of proof as to material factual issues unless applicable Health District rules and regulations or state law or regulations provide otherwise.

B. Admissibility. The hearing generally will not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and procedure. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the type which possesses probative value commonly accepted by reasonably prudent people in the conduct of their affairs. Irrelevant, immaterial, unreliable, or unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded. The rules of privilege shall be effective to the extent recognized by law.

C. Receipt and Retention. All documentary or other physical evidence submitted shall be sequentially numbered as an exhibit and retained by the Health District as a part of the official case record except laws, regulations, and other readily available public documents. Materials which the offering party is not willing to have become Health District property will not be accepted as evidence except, at the discretion of the Examiner, in unusual circumstances.

D. Copies. Documentary evidence may be received in the form of copies or excerpts. Upon request, parties shall be given an opportunity to compare the copy with the original.

E. Official Notice. The Examiner may take official notice of judicially cognizable facts and in addition may take notice of general, technical, or scientific facts within the Examiner’s specialized knowledge. When any decision of the Examiner rests, in whole or in part, upon the taking of official notice of a material fact not appearing in evidence of record, the Examiner shall so state in the decision.

F. Evidence Received Subsequent to the Hearing. No documentary material submitted after the close of the public hearing will be considered by the Examiner unless, at such hearing, the Examiner granted additional time to submit such material. [Res. 93-32, Eff. 11/09/93. Res. 85-44. Prior code § 1.10.6].