Section 363:32 Designation of Employees.
I. (a) Whenever the commission conducts an adjudicative proceeding in accordance with the provisions of RSA 541-A:31 through RSA 541-A:35, the commission shall designate members of its staff as staff advocates and decisional employees, if requested by a party with full rights of participation in the proceeding, when:
(1) It appears that staff members have committed or are likely to commit to a highly adversarial position in the proceeding and may not be able to fairly and neutrally advise the commission on all positions advanced in the proceeding;
(2) The docket concerns an issue or matter which is particularly contentious or controversial and which is significant in consequence;
(3) The issues in the docket are so contested as to create reasonable concern on the part of any party about the staff's role in commission decision making; or
(4) It appears reasonable that such designations may increase the likelihood of a stipulated agreement of the parties.
(b) Unless the commission provides otherwise, any such designations shall only be applicable to a specified adjudicative proceeding. The commission shall make a list of all current designations available to the public.
(c) Although any party who is a full intervenor may make a motion to designate pursuant to paragraph I at any point during the proceeding, if the motion is made later than 20 days after staff members have filed testimony, the commission may deny the motion solely on the grounds that it is administratively unworkable because such motion has been filed so late in the proceeding.
II. The commission may, on its own initiative, designate members of its staff as staff advocates and decisional employees.
Source. 1994, 414:1, eff. Aug. 10, 1994.