24 NCAC 06A .0320. Designation of Hearing Officer

(a) The Commission shall select and maintain a list of no fewer than four qualified hearing officers. When Notice of Disciplinary Hearing is issued to the parties in a contested case, it shall identify the hearing officer designated by the Director to preside over the matter. (b) Individuals selected by the Commission as hearing officers shall be members in good standing of the North Carolina State Bar who have demonstrated experience and expertise in areas of due process and administrative law within the last five years. A hearing officer shall not be contemporaneously employed by the State. (c) Hearing officers shall be removed from the list for one or more of the following reasons: termination or revocation of the hearing officer's license to practice law, misfeasance, malfeasance, misconduct, immoral conduct, incompetency, the commission of a crime, or any other good and adequate reason as found by the Commission. (d) The Commission shall determine the compensation for a hearing officer. The Commission shall pay the hearing officer's compensation and authorized expenses.