§ 62-70. Ex parte communications.
§ 62‑70. Ex partecommunications.
(a) In all matters and proceedings pending on the Commission'sformal docket, with adversary parties of record, all communications or contactof any nature whatsoever between any party and the Commission or any of its members,or any hearing examiner assigned to such docket, whether verbal or written,formal or informal, which pertains to the merits of such matter or proceeding,shall be made only with full knowledge of, or notice to, all other parties ofrecord. All parties shall have an opportunity to be informed fully as to thenature of such communication and to be present and heard with respect thereto.In all matters and proceedings which are judicial in nature, it is the specificintent of this section that all members of the Commission shall conduct alltrials, hearings and proceedings before them in the manner and in accordancewith the judicial standards applicable to judges of the General Court ofJustice, as provided in Chapter 7A of the General Statutes, and upon theinitiation of any such proceedings, and particularly during the trial orhearing thereof, there shall be no communications or contacts of any nature,including telephone communications, written correspondence, or direct officeconferences, between any party or such party's attorney and any member of theCommission or any hearing examiner, without all other parties to suchproceeding having full notice and opportunity to be present and heard withrespect to any such contact or communication.
Any commissioner who knowingly receives any such communication orcontact during such proceeding and who fails promptly to report the same to theAttorney General, or who otherwise violates any of the provisions of thissubsection shall be liable to impeachment. Any examiner who knowingly receivesany such communication or contact during such proceeding and who fails promptlyto report the same to the Attorney General or who otherwise violates any of theprovisions of this subsection shall be subject to dismissal from employment forcause.
(b) In the event any such communication or contact shall bereceived by the Commission or any commissioner or any hearing examiner assignedto such docket without such knowledge or notice to all other parties, theCommission shall immediately cause a formal record of such violation to be madein its docket and thereafter no ruling or decision shall be made in favor ofsuch violating party until the aggrieved party shall waive such violation orthe Commission shall find as a fact that such party was not prejudiced therebyor that any such prejudice, if present, has been removed.
(c) Any contacts or communications made in violation of thissection which are not recorded by the Commission may be recorded by notice tothe Commission by any aggrieved party and, unless the Commission shall findthat such violation did not in fact occur, such recording shall have the sameeffect as if done by the Commission.
(d) In matters not under this section, the Commission may secureinformation and receive communications ex parte, it being the purpose of thissection to protect adversary interests where they exist but not otherwise torestrict unduly the administrative and legislative functions of the Commission.
(e) This section shall not modify any notice required in thecase of pleadings and proceedings which are subject to other requirements ofnotice to parties of record, whether by statute or by rule of the Commission,and the Commission may adopt reasonable rules to coordinate this section with suchother requirements.
(f) In addition to the foregoing provisions regarding contactswith members of the Commission and hearing examiners, if any party of record,including the assistant attorney general when he is a party, confers with orotherwise contacts any staff personnel employed by the Commission regarding themerits of a pending proceeding, the staff employee shall promptly forward byregular mail a memorandum of the date and general subject matter of suchcontact to all other parties of record to the proceeding.
(g) Notwithstanding the foregoing, no communication by a publicutility or by the public staff regarding the level of rates specificallyproposed to be charged by a public utility shall be made or directed to theCommission, a member of the Commission, or hearing examiner, except in the formof written tariff, petition, application, pleading, written response, writtenrecommendation, recorded conference, intervention, answer, pleading, sworntestimony and related exhibits, oral argument on the record, or brief. Willfulviolations of the provisions of this section on the part of any public utilityshall subject such public utility to the penalties provided in G.S. 62‑310(a).Willful violations of the provisions of this section by a member of the publicstaff shall subject such person to dismissal for cause. (1963, c. 1165, s. 1; 1977, c. 468, s. 14; 1979, c.332, s. 2.)