(d) Service not jurisdictional. Service prescribed by this Chapter shall not be jurisdictional except where so provided by the Constitution or by statute.  Failure to comply with the provisions of this section as to mailing and service notice shall not deprive the Board or Commissioner of jurisdiction of the proceeding, but shall be grounds for appropriate relief as the Commissioner may order.

180:1-3-6. Commencement of proceeding; intervention; consolidation [Back]

(a) Every proceeding shall be commenced by an initial pleading which shall be:

(1) an application, which shall include any request for authority, approval, determination, permission or other action or relief whether or not directed against a named respondent;

(2) an appeal of a decision of the Commissioner, which decision is entitled to be appealed to the Board, or

(3) an order of the Board or Commissioner commencing a proceeding.

(b) Any interested person may intervene in a proceeding before the Board or Commissioner upon making timely application and showing that he may be aggrieved by the decision. Two or more proceedings or matters may be consolidated if there is no prejudice to any person affected by such consolidation.

180:1-3-7. Notice of hearing [Back]

(a) The Commissioner shall determine the names of all interested persons who might be directly aggrieved by the determination of the Board or the Commissioner at such hearings.

(b) The Commissioner shall give written notice of hearing to such persons at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing.  Any party may waive such notice of hearing, and will be considered to have waived such notice by attending the hearing in person or by representative, unless such appearance is for the sole purpose of protesting the lack of timely notice.

(c) The Commissioner shall give any additional notice required by law and may give additional notice where he deems it advisable.

180:1-3-8. Continuances [Back]

(a) The Commissioner may continue a hearing at any time for any period, with or without notice or motion.

(b) Except for good cause shown or by agreement of all parties appearing at the hearing, no continuance will be granted upon motion of a party unless notice thereof is given to all interested parties at least three (3) days prior to the date set for hearing. A stipulation for continuance among all parties of record ordinarily will be approved unless the Commissioner determines that the public interest requires otherwise.

(c) Every continuance shall be to a day certain, and shall be made by order of the Commissioner.

180:1-3-9. Depositions and discovery [Back]

(a) Depositions.

(1) Deposition of a witness may be taken pursuant to a subpoena or by agreement of the parties involved. The deposition of a witness may be taken inside or outside the State of Oklahoma with the requesting party bearing the cost of the court reporter.

(2) The manner of taking deposition and the use thereof shall otherwise be governed by the laws relating to taking of depositions for use in the District Courts of Oklahoma.

(b) Production of documents.

(1) Upon application of a party, or upon the Commissioner's own motion, with or without notice, the Commissioner may make an order requiring a party to produce designated documents or tangible objects for inspection by parties to the proceeding, or for copying at the expense of the applicant, or to be offered in evidence. The order shall direct production thereof at the hearing, or at a pre-hearing conference and production shall be at the principal office of the Board, unless some other place is stated in the order. An order hereunder may be directed to a party not yet a party of record, conditioned that such party appears at the hearing, the order thereupon will be complied with.

(2) The party applying therefore shall mail a copy of the order by regular mail on each party of record at least seven (7) days prior to the date upon which production is required.

(3) An order pursuant to this section may require production of any document not privileged which constitutes or contains evidence relevant to the subject matter of the proceeding, or may reasonably lead to such evidence. Business records shall not be deemed privileged as such; but confidential business records and information will be protected from disclosure except where directly relevant to the issues in the proceedings.

(4) The order shall identify the document or object to be produced individually or by categories, with sufficient particularity to permit easy identification thereof by the party ordered to make production.

(5) An exact photographic copy of a document may be substituted for the original, at the expense of the person requesting the instrument.

(c) Interrogatories. Interrogatories may be submitted to a party in an individual proceeding under the same restrictions and procedures as set forth in the Oklahoma statutes governing discovery in civil cases.

180:1-3-10. Examiner testimony [Back]

(a) Department examiners are prohibited from giving testimony which would disclose information obtained from confidential records, as defined in the Oklahoma Banking Code, the Act, or rule of the Board, or information obtained in the process of developing confidential records, without the express permission in writing of the Commissioner.

(b) Litigants seeking to subpoena Department examiners for depositions or hearings shall serve one copy of the subpoena upon the examiner and shall timely furnish one copy of each subpoena to the Department.

180:1-3-11. Examination report confidentiality [Back]

Examination reports are the property of the regulatory agencies which generate them. Copies are furnished to credit unions for their confidential use. Under no circumstances shall the credit union or any of its directors, officers or employees disclose or make public in any manner the report or any portion thereof. If a subpoena or other legal process is received calling for production of an examination report, the Department must be notified immediately.

180:1-3-12. Pre-hearing conference [Back]

(a) The Commissioner, with or without request by any party of record, may order the parties or their attorneys to appear at a designated time for a pre-hearing conference to consider:

(1) Simplification of the issues.

(2) Presentation of issues of law, adjudication of which may simplify or eliminate issues of fact.

(3) Admissions and stipulations of fact which will avoid unnecessary evidence and testimony.

(4) Identification of documents to be offered at the hearing.

(5) Identification of and numerical limit upon experts and other witnesses.

(6) Discovery and production of documents, records, data and other information.

(7) Other matters as may aid in trial of the proceedings.

(b) Any objection or amendment to the application, notice of hearing, investigative report, any pleading or order commencing a proceeding shall be made at the pre-hearing conference. No objection or amendment will be allowed after the pre-hearing conference except upon good cause.

(c) Actions taken at the pre-hearing conference may be embodied in a preliminary order, which order shall control subsequent proceedings and shall be binding on all parties, whether or not present, unless modified to prevent manifest injustice.

(d) Notice of the time and place of a pre-hearing conference shall be as prescribed by order of the Commissioner and shall be served by regular mail upon all parties of record.

180:1-3-13. Witnesses and subpoenas [Back]

(a) Subpoena.

Pursuant to 6 O.S. §2001.2, the Board, upon request of a party, or upon their own motion, may issue subpoenas in any pending proceeding requiring attendance of a witness from any place in the state to the place of hearing. Praecipe for subpoena shall be filed with the Commissioner.

(b) Subpoena duces tecum.

A subpoena may require the witness to produce at the hearing books, records, accounts, papers, and other instruments and tangible objects, which shall be described with reasonable particularity in the subpoena. A subpoena duces tecum directed to a party not an individual may direct that the records be produced by an officer or employee responsible therefor.

(c) Service of subpoena.

A subpoena may be served by a law enforcement officer, by an attorney, or by any other person competent to make an oath; and the person serving the same shall attach his affidavit of the person served, and time and manner of service. Service also may be made in any other manner provided by law.

(d) Return.

The original subpoena, with the affidavit of service thereon, shall be filed with the Commissioner.

(e) Protective orders.

The Commissioner may make any orders with respect to subpoena and attendance of witness with or without application or notice, as may be appropriate for the protection of parties and witnesses, including an Order excusing attendance, or limiting documents to be produced.

180:1-3-14. Evidentiary rules [Back]

(a) Rules of evidence.

At such hearings, the rules of evidence set forth in the Oklahoma Evidence Code shall apply and the hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the Oklahoma Evidence Code relating to hearings therein provided, insofar as may be practicable.

(b) Order of proof.

The applicant or complainant who institutes a proceeding shall open and close the proof. Intervenors shall be heard immediately following principal parties with whom allied in interest. In all other cases, the presiding officer shall designate the order of proof.

(c) Adverse party.

A party may call an adverse party or an officer or employee of an adverse party, in which case the witness may be impeached and otherwise cross-examined.

(d) Off the record.

All testimony will be taken on the record unless the presiding officer designates otherwise.

(e) Documents.

Documentary evidence may be received in the form of copies or excerpts, if the original is not readily available. Upon requests, parties shall be given an opportunity to compare the copy with the original.

(f) Examination of witness.

The Commissioner shall designate the order of examination and may limit the scope of examination and cross-examination.

180:1-3-15. Party's attendance required at hearing [Back]

A representative of a credit union seeking affirmative relief must be present at the Board meeting where the Board will hear the request, unless such attendance is waived by the presiding officer.

180:1-3-16. Complaint Procedure [Back]

(a) The primary purpose of the complaint procedure is to assist consumers in obtaining a formal response from an institution or company under the jurisdiction of the Department (the respondent).  If the undisputed facts indicate that a respondent has violated state or federal law with respect to the complaining party, the Commissioner may notify both the complaining party and the respondent and recommend a resolution to the complaint.  The Commissioner may take other action against the respondent if the activity or violation identified in the complaint, and verified by the Commissioner, indicates a threat to the safety and soundness of the respondent or a violation of law enforced by the Department.

(b) All complaints shall be on a form prescribed by the Commissioner.  All complaints shall be answered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee, without proceedings before the Board.

(c) Unless determined by the Commissioner to be frivolous or not including facts that may entitle the complaining party to relief under applicable law, the Commissioner shall forward each complaint to the respondent named in the complaint.   The respondent shall have 20 days to respond in writing to the complaint, unless such time is extended by the Commissioner for good cause.

(d)   The Commissioner shall not have jurisdiction to decide questions of fact raised by the parties to a complaint nor shall the Commissioner have authority to enforce, interpret, or avoid the provisions of a contract between the parties to a complaint.   However, the Commissioner may inform the complaining party and respondent that a contract provision is contrary to established law.