KCTCS Board of Regents Policies

6.3 Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) Formal Hearing Procedures for the Determination of Residency Status Pursuant to 13 KAR 2:045, Section 14 

6.3.1 Request for Hearing

A student may request a formal hearing to appeal a determination of residency by a residency review committee.

The student shall make the request in writing to the KCTCS Chancellor within fourteen (14) calendar days after notification of a determination by a residency review committee.

The date of notification is the postmarked date of the mailing of the notice.

6.3.2 Appointment of a Hearing Officer

1. Within ten (10) days after receipt of the written request for a formal hearing, a hearing officer shall be appointed by the KCTCS Chancellor.
2. The hearing officer may be an employee of KCTCS. 
3. The hearing officer shall be a person not involved in determinations of residency at KCTCS except for formal hearings.

6.3.3 Procedures for the Conduct of the Hearing

1. The hearing shall be scheduled as soon as practicable.
2. The hearing officer shall give notice in writing to the parties not less than twenty (20) days in advance of the date set for the hearing.
3. The hearing officer shall make a reasonable effort to schedule the hearing on a date that is convenient to both parties.
4. The notice required in subsection B shall be served on the student-appellant by certified mail, return receipt requested. Service by certified mail shall be complete upon the date on which KCTCS receives the return receipt of the returned notice. Notice to KCTCS shall be delivered to the KCTCS Chancellor's office by either first class mail or hand delivery.
5. The hearing officer may convene and conduct a prehearing conference in an effort to settle the matter, to prepare stipulations, to clarify issues, and to decide any other matters that will promote the orderly and prompt conduct of the hearing.
6. The student-appellant shall have the right to present new information and new evidence of Kentucky residence at the prehearing conference if one is held.
7. The hearing officer shall issue a settlement order or a prehearing order regulating the conduct of the hearing. The prehearing order shall include the matters determined at the prehearing conference if one was held.
8. The hearing officer shall preside over the conduct of the hearing, shall rule on any matters presented by the parities in pleadings or motions, and shall allow or require the filing of briefs at appropriate times during the proceedings.
9. Any party may participate in person or be represented by counsel at any and all proceedings in the hearing process.
10. At the hearing, the hearing officer shall accept new evidence and testimony in support of the student's claim of Kentucky residence.
11. Failure to attend the hearing by a party may result in a default order granting or denying relief as appropriate or conduct of the hearing without participation of the defaulting party. 
12. The hearing officer may conduct all or part of the hearing or a prehearing conference by telephone, television, or other electronic means, so long as each party to the hearing has an opportunity to hear, and, if technically feasible, to see the entire proceeding as it occurs, and if each party agrees.
13. The hearing shall not be open to the public in order to protect the privacy rights of the student-appellant.
14. In an administrative hearing, findings of fact shall be based exclusively on the evidence on the record. The hearing officer shall exclude evidence that is irrelevant, immaterial, unduly repetitious, or excludable on constitutional or statutory grounds or on the basis of evidentiary privilege recognized in the courts of this Commonwealth. Hearsay evidence may be admissible, if it is the type of evidence that reasonable and prudent persons would rely on in their daily affairs.
15. All testimony shall be made under oath or affirmation. Any part of the evidence may be received in written form if doing so will expedite the hearing without substantial prejudice to the interests of any party. The hearing officer may make a written order on the record submitted if the hearing officer determines there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and judgment is appropriate as a matter of law.
16. Any party may have the right to inspect, at least five (5) days prior to the hearing, a list of all witnesses the parties expect to call and the available documentary or tangible evidence relating to the hearing, either in person or by counsel. Copies of documentary evidence may be obtained upon the payment of a fee, except documents protected from disclosure by state or federal law. The hearing officer may, in an appropriate case, order that certain documents be included in the record under seal.
17. Objections to evidentiary offers may be made by any party and shall be noted in the record. 
18. The hearing officer may take official notice of facts that are not in dispute, or of generally recognized technical or scientific facts.
19. All testimony, motions, and objections in a hearing shall be accurately and completely recorded.
20. The party bringing the appeal shall have the burden of proof that shall be met by a preponderance of the evidence. Failure to meet the burden of proof is grounds for an order from the hearing officer upholding the decision of the residency review committee.
21. The hearing officer shall not communicate off the record with any party to the hearing concerning any substantive issue while the proceeding is pending.
22. If an ex parte communication occurs, the hearing officer shall note the occurrence for the record, and shall place in the record a copy of the communication, if it was written, or a memorandum of the substance of the communication, if it was oral.
23. The hearing officer shall issue to all parties findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a recommendation as soon as practicable, but no later than sixty (60) days after the final evidence is taken and included in the record.
24. The hearing officer shall make a recommendation to the KCTCS Chancellor. The KCTCS Chancellor will make the final decision.