§ 259-D — Hearing officers

§ 259-d. Hearing officers. 1. The state board of parole shall appoint\nand shall have the power to remove, in accordance with the provisions of\nthe civil service law, hearing officers who shall be authorized to\nconduct parole revocation proceedings. Hearing officers shall function\nindependently of the department regarding all of their decision-making\nfunctions, and shall report directly to the board, provided, however,\nthat administrative matters of general applicability within the\ndepartment shall be applicable to all hearing officers. A hearing\nofficer conducting such proceedings shall, when delegated such authority\nby the board in rules adopted by the board, be required to make a\nwritten decision in accordance with standards and rules adopted by the\nboard. Nothing in this article shall be deemed to preclude a member of\nthe state board of parole from exercising all of the functions, powers\nand duties of a hearing officer upon request of the chairman.\n 2. The board, acting in cooperation with the civil service commission,\nshall establish standards, preliminary requisites and requisites to\ngovern the selection, appointment and removal of hearing officers. Such\nstandards and requisites shall be designed to assure that persons\nselected as hearing officers have the ability to conduct parole\nrevocation proceedings fairly and impartially. Such standards shall not\nrequire prior experience as a parole officer. The board shall have the\nauthority to establish procedures necessary to implement this section.\n