Section 20-10-15 - Rules of evidence; official notice(a) Any oral or documentary evidence may be received by the hearing officer. The hearing officer, as a matter of policy, shall provide for the exclusion of irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence. No sanction shall be imposed or order be issued except upon consideration of the whole record or the portions thereof as may be cited by any party and as supported by and in accordance with the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence. The hearing officer shall give effect to the rules of privilege recognized by law.(b) Documentary evidence may be received in the form of copies or excerpts, if the original is not readily available; provided that upon request, parties shall be given an opportunity to compare the copy with the original.(c) Every party shall have the right to conduct a cross-examination as may be required for a full and true disclosure of the facts, and shall have the right to submit rebuttal evidence.(d) The hearing officer may take notice of judicially recognizable facts. In addition, the hearing officer may take notice of generally recognized technical or scientific facts within the hearing officer's specialized knowledge; but parties shall be notified either before or during the hearing, or by reference in preliminary reports or otherwise, of the material so noticed, and they shall be afforded an opportunity to contest the facts so noticed.(e) Except as otherwise provided by law, the debtor contesting the setoff shall have the burden of proof, including the burden of producing evidence as well as the burden of persuasion. The degree or quantum of proof shall be a preponderance of the evidence.(f) Any document filed in a contested case, other than evidence, shall conform to the requirements of section 20-1.1-11. In addition, all the documents shall be written in ink, typewritten, or printed, shall be plainly legible, shall be on strong durable paper, not larger than 8-1/2" x 14" in size except that tables, charts, and other documents may be larger, folded to the size of the documents to which they are attached.[Eff 5/9/98; am and comp DEC 12 2002] (Auth: HRS §§ 26-38, 91-2, 231-58) (Imp: HRS §§ 91-2, 91-9 to 91-13, 92-16, 231-53)[Am and Comp3/18/2018] (Auth: HRS §§ 304A-105, 304A-604) (Imp: HRS §§ 304A-105, 304A-602, 304A-604)